About

Hello, my name is Ralph Johnson, sometimes referred to as “The Cheezman.” I have a passion for selling great Wisconsin cheese and specialty foods.

My career in the cheese business began almost 50 years ago in 1968 when I started pedaling cheese off of a little truck. Within two years, I purchased that business and developed it into a distribution company that serviced four states, selling primarily to grocery stores and some restaurants. At the same time, I also ran a retail cheese store, a mail order business, and a cheese packaging business.

I later sold the distribution business to Sysco Food Services and worked for them until 1989 when I started a cheese brokerage firm that serviced the Midwest. I then sold that firm to a larger brokerage company a few years later.

In 2005, I started Cheezman, LLC and work independently as a Manufacturers Representative for about 30 different Wisconsin Cheese companies that make both traditional and specialty cheeses. I also represent a large butter manufacturer, a pizza and tomato sauce manufacturer, two pizza crust manufacturers, a private label frozen pizza company, a Spanish Olive company, a flavored retail butter company, and an hors d’oeuvres/appetizer company.