Sargento General Manager Erin Price: Things are Getting Spicy in Wisconsin

IF THERE IS ONE THING that most American consumers can agree on, it has got to be our nearly universal love of cheese. No company has done more to meet and mold that consumer interest than Sargento, the Wisconsin powerhouse with more than 70 years of history.

CPGMatters sat down with Erin Price, General Manager of Sargento. for an in-depth conversation about category trends, product innovation and how their products go to market nationwide. The conversation got – well – spicy.

In a food category most often noted for “mild,” “mellow” and occasionally “sharp” flavors, Sargento is rolling out a line of hot-pepper-infused natural cheeses aimed at meeting changing consumer tastes. Its newest varieties, Mango Habanero Jack, Smoky Hot Colby-Jack and the searing Carolina Reaper Jack, are reaching stores now across the country.

Founded in 1953 in Plymouth, Wisconsin, Sargento successfully introduced America to pre-packaged sliced and shredded real, natural cheeses. With 2,500 employees today and net sales of $1.7 billion, it has always been a family-owned company.

Price has served as its General Manager since June 2024. She joined the Sargento organization in 2007 and rose steadily through the marketing and strategic planning ranks to her present role. Her prior career path spanned brand marketing tenures at General Mills, Johnson & Johnson and Spectrum Brands.

The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.

CPGM:
Let’s start off by talking a little bit about newest extra-flavorful Sargento products. Surely there are consumer insights in play. What led to the decision?

Price: 
Like most other CPG companies, we are always trying to find out what the consumer is missing in their life. What are they really looking for?

We know we need to encourage younger consumers to explore more in the grocery store. They’re not browsing and shopping the way that past generations have. I think they’ve grown up on digital and e-commerce, and they kind of pick and grab and go.

So, we’re trying to encourage them to shop more, to grow the category, and bring them new experiences. We want them to realize that honestly, for our brand versus a private label, there’s a value difference, a quality difference.

For 2026 we’re leaning into their search for bolder, more interesting flavors to make their meals and their snacks more exciting, more satisfying, more fulfilling. Especially for younger consumers, that adds value. They’re willing to pay more for those, even in these challenging times, if it gives them a more satisfying experience.

CPGM:
Would you give us a quick review of what’s new?

Price:
We’ve launched a new line of Hot and Spicy Sliced Cheeses. It’s a range of three different items that add really deep, rich flavor and some rather substantial heat to sandwiches and burgers and paninis and grilled cheeses.

The Mango Habanero Jack is one that has a sweet heat. It’s a very tropical profile. It really adds to a grilled cheese a ton of depth of flavor. The Smoky Hot Colby-Jack gives you a great smoky heat. For any type of a burger or a grilled item, it’s going to add a really rich and complex flavor to that as well as some heat, too. Then the Carolina Reaper is a really intense, fiery heat for the people who really, really crave it. And they are legendary, of course.

We’re also launching Crunch Mix varieties of our Balanced Breaks, which pair our creamy natural cheese with crispy, crunchy, boldly seasoned snack mixes to deliver the snacking, textural experience consumers are looking for from the salty snack aisle. Each one has seven to eight grams of protein, which is something that is very important to snackers today.

Sargento hot and spicy cheese slices are just reaching store shelves. The new flavors were developed based on consumer preferences learned from marketing research.

CPGM:
The protein conversation is certainly very timely. GLP-1 medications are changing eating habits. It’s almost like we can treat – let’s call them mature – consumers who have made that decision almost like new consumers again.

Price:
Absolutely, what they're looking for and the cues they respond to and things that matter in their choices are evolving, and speaking to those needs is quickly becoming table stakes.

But that doesn’t mean that they only look for functional benefits like protein. They still want those taste experiences. They want a fully satisfying snack. With Crunch Mix in particular, we found that having a full balance – the creamy, the crunchy, the mild cheese, the really spicy, seasoned flavors – that’s what brings excitement and interest.

CPGM:
In Southern Arizona where I’m from, super-spicy snacks are amazingly popular with younger kids. How broad is the interest across the country?

Price:
Very broad. The younger consumers, they’re looking for heat. They’re also looking for flavor, too. That’s something we really leaned into as we developed our spicy sliced cheeses.

You could just put in a whole bunch of peppers and burn your mouth out, right?

But it was important to us that we had really rich, complex flavors in these slices, too. Younger consumers, particularly the younger Gen-Z, single households, are using sandwiches as a dinner item at a lot higher rate than other generations. It’s quick. It’s easy. It’s single serve. They’re looking for paninis and hot sandwiches and interesting recipes.

CPGM:
We are starting to notice more variety of peppered cheeses in dairy cases. Is that in response to certain insights that the industry is discovering?

Price:
It is, yes. But I think some folks are taking that insight and then going straight to just, “Let’s add more. Hotter peppers, a hotter version of pepper jack.” Sargento took a little bit of a different twist with these new items to get multiple layers and levels of flavor in there.

CPGM:
So tell us about the timing. Is it rolling out now?

Price:
They just started shipping earlier this year and are available at most national grocery stores. You should see them at most major retailers across the country by summer.

CPGM:
What can you share about the consumer response so far?

Price:
We test everything extensively with consumers, and have seen a great response so far in terms of, “This is meeting my needs,” “This is something that's exciting,”  “This is something that makes me think differently about the brand,” and “It makes me think differently about the category.” 
And that's really what you need to do. Consumers are always looking for something new, something interesting. You’ve got to keep them coming back. That’s good for us and it’s good for the retailers, too.

CPGM:
For your retail partners, it’s got to have a business logic and a place in their assortment. What are you telling them about shopper demand?

Price:
For one, we’re learning that younger consumers don’t want to hear about things from the brand. They want to hear from their friends.

And so how can we get this to influencers, trusted partners, trusted media outlets that are out there? How can we get them to help share the story? Because that’s who young people trust. That’s who they want to hear from. So, we’re working on our influencer network.

We have a great partnership coming up with First We Feast on YouTube. They have a digital talk show called Hot Ones, where guests take different hot and spicy challenges. Then on Hot Ones Hot Kitchen, various chefs come in and create their take on hot and spicy dishes. We’re excited to get our products in their hands and see what they come up with.

And of course, we engage in channel and in-store and the retail media networks to make sure that we’re in front of people when they're shopping.

CPGM:
Now you’re looking for space in the assortment at these retailers. How do you earn that and make sure the retailer sees this as a way to increase the overall productivity of the category?

Price:
At Sargento, we bring our retailers in very early in our innovation process. We show them sneak peeks 12, 18 months in advance to let them know where we’re going and ask their input.

We share the trends we are seeing. We ask about what they are seeing on their shelves. What’s working for you? What’s not working for you? 
In that way, we’re able to help prepare them for what’s coming. Where might it fit in the set. What might need to be shifted or moved. They have plenty of time to plan for that.

We also take their feedback and can pivot and change and adapt the concept before we get to a final product. That is so valuable and we’re so grateful that our retail partners are willing to work with us.

CPGM: 
So for you, it begins with your product concept and development, then the category plan follows?

Price:
Exactly. Category management is the next step. Within my own set, are there items that maybe aren't being as productive? Are there competitive items that maybe we should look at together? We have to understand not only the top turners, but what is most incremental.

What’s super exciting for me is all of our retailers in the 20 years I’ve been doing this now, the data and analytics maturity has just absolutely skyrocketed. You can see the households that you’re bringing in with various items. You're not just looking at sales rates, you’re saying, “Hey, this is bringing in an incremental consumer, maybe a specific demographic, maybe a specific income level.”

This really helps to make smarter decisions to grow the category overall. Because with Sargento, that’s always been our whole goal. We want to grow healthy categories for the long term.

The way to do that is to bring something new to the consumer. You’ve got to bring them innovation, new flavors, new things that they hadn't thought of yet, new varieties that maybe aren't as popular in the United States, new packaging formats, new snacks especially.

Snacking is a massive trend that just keeps getting bigger, especially with younger consumers. They say that up to a third of their meal occasions are snacks, you know? They’re not really falling into the kind of three squares a day that some of us grew up with. 

CPGM:
You weren’t always in the dairy industry, right? Johnson & Johnson and General Mills appear prominently on your resume. So you've been in this business long enough to have some wider perspective. Are there certain core beliefs from your experience that you find yourself returning to help guide the decisions and your leadership now in your brand?

Price:
I’m always encouraging my teams that you have to hold the consumer at the center of everything that you do because they are going to decide.

The best ad campaign in the world is not going to convince them of something that isn’t true. So make sure that you really find the deep insights. Focus on their needs, that's where you're really going to win.

Now that I've been doing this for almost 25 years in total in CPG, I have to say the most important thing is to find really great people and make sure that you are appreciating them. Give them the opportunity to shine.

Hire outstanding, kind, funny, wonderful, smart, driven, motivated people. That’s what makes it work. That’s what makes it fun. That’s what makes it worth it. And that’s why I've been at Sargento for so long.