The operation, in one paragraph.
Mullins Cheese is the largest family-owned and operated cheese factory in Wisconsin, located in Knowlton — a small village about four miles south of Mosinee in Portage County, on the shore of Lake Du Bay. The factory was founded in 1970 when John and Emmer Mullins purchased the existing Mosinee cheese factory. Five generations of the Mullins family have since worked in the operation. The current scale is significant: milk from approximately 500 dairy farms throughout Wisconsin, 50+ cheese varieties, a second facility in the Marshfield area, and a whey processing facility added in 2001 (Mullins Instant Whey Protein Isolate Powder is now sold under the MullinsWhey.com brand).
The retail store.
The Mullins Cheese retail store at 203843 County Road DB in Mosinee is the destination piece of the operation. Yelp's Health Department Intelligence puts the inspection score at 99 out of 100. The store sells classic Wisconsin cheeses (Cheddar, Colby, Monterey Jack, Colby Jack), specialty styles (Parmesan, Romano, Asiago), and a heat-forward lineup that includes Pepper Jack and Ghost Chili Gouda. Other store features include hot deli items, deep-fried cheese curds (a Wisconsin Favorite, per their own framing), Mullins-branded "4 cheese" take-and-bake pizzas, snack sticks, soft serve ice cream (April-October), Wisconsin-themed souvenirs, and a full grocery selection.
The curds.
Cheese curds are Mullins's headline product. They market themselves with the tagline "the best cheese curds around," which is the standard Wisconsin every-cheesemaker-says-this claim. The curds are made fresh daily in Knowlton from milk supplied by the same 500-farm network that feeds the rest of the cheese operation. Multiple curd colors and flavored varieties typically rotate at the storefront.
An honest review note worth flagging: Tripadvisor reviews on Mullins in 2025-2026 are mixed in a way that wasn't true a few years ago. Multiple longtime customers report that "Mullins cheese have changed their processes with their curds. They're like miserable cardboard now. No more squeaky cheese curds." Other reviews from the same period continue to praise Mullins as having "the best fried cheese curds we have ever had — and being from Wisconsin we have tried 100s." We've heard the same split firsthand from Wisconsin curd-circuit regulars. Treat Mullins as a destination that may or may not be at its best on a given visit — particularly if peak squeak is the only thing you're driving for. The fried curds at the retail store are reliably excellent.
How they ship.
Mullins ships cheese directly via mullinscheese.com. Cold-pack shipping during the cooler months handles fresh curds and shorter-shelf-life cheeses; aged Cheddar, Gouda, and other longer-shelf cheeses ship year-round. The shipping infrastructure is solid but not as developed as the more direct-to-consumer-focused Wisconsin curd operations. Most Mullins distribution is wholesale: they supply national retailers, foodservice channels, and a regional grocery network throughout central Wisconsin.
The whey side note.
Mullins is also a serious whey processor. The 2001 expansion added ultrafiltration and microfiltration whey processing for whey protein isolate powder. The Mullins Instant Whey Protein Isolate Powder (sold as MullinsWhey.com) is a real product in the supplement market and gives the operation a second revenue stream beyond cheese. For the cheesemaker reading this: yes, whey-protein isolate is the reason Wisconsin cheese plants can stay profitable at scale through cheese-price cycles. Mullins was early on this.
How Mullins compares to Gardner's.
Mullins is a Wisconsin destination operation with a strong retail presence, a heat-forward specialty lineup (including the unusual Ghost Chili Gouda), and a large family-owned wholesale business. Gardner's is a focused direct-to-consumer cheese curd specialist with a tighter LE rotation, certified gluten-free/keto across the lineup, and faster turnaround on national shipping. For curd-specific mail order, Gardner's wins. For a road-trip destination with deep-fried curds, ghost-chili gouda, and a soft serve cone for the drive back, Mullins wins.
The verdict.
Mullins Cheese is a real Wisconsin cheese operation with 5 generations of family ownership, 500-farm milk sourcing, and the largest family-owned cheese factory footprint in the state. The retail experience is strong. The curd quality has gotten less consistent in recent reviewer reports — keep that in mind on visit. We score Mullins at 8.7 overall, with deductions for the squeak-consistency reports and uplift for the breadth of the operation. The Ghost Chili Gouda is a top-tier product worth a special order.
