The operation, in one paragraph.
Renard's Cheese is a fourth-generation, family-owned cheesemaking business in Sturgeon Bay, Door County, Wisconsin, operating since 1961. The company makes over 100 varieties of artisan cheese, runs a retail store and the Melt Bistro restaurant, and ships nationwide. Its fresh cheese curds come off the make every morning — and in our testing, they're the best plain curd we've measured.
The Master Cheesemaker.
What sets Renard's apart at the production level is Master Cheesemaker Chris Renard. The Wisconsin Master Cheesemaker program is one of the most demanding cheesemaking credentials in the world — years of experience plus rigorous testing, and the only program of its kind outside Europe. Chris Renard is certified in both Mozzarella and Cheddar. That cheddar certification is exactly what you'd want behind a cheddar curd, and the consistency shows: Renard's were the most uniform curds in our testing.
The 2017 American Cheese Society award isn't marketing — it's a juried competition. Renard's Yellow Cheese Curds took 3rd in the Fresh Unripened category, and they've earned the placement.
The curds.
Renard's flagship curd is yellow — vibrant, annatto-colored, with a clean milky flavor and a slightly fuller character than white cheddar curds. They scored 9.3 in our review, our highest plain-curd score, with best-in-class squeak (9.5). They also make a Dill & Garlic variety, which is a respectable flavored option though it doesn't reach the heights of the dedicated flavored-curd specialists. Read the full curd review →
Beyond curds.
Renard's is a full-line artisan cheesemaker, not just a curd operation. The catalog runs to more than 100 varieties — aged and smoked cheeses, spreads, specialty styles — alongside homemade sausage and Door County gourmet goods. The Sturgeon Bay location pairs the retail store with the Melt Bistro, which serves comfort food made with Renard's cheese, including fried curds daily. It's a destination as much as a producer.
How they ship.
Renard's ships nationwide with ice and cooler options selected at checkout. In our testing, orders arrived cold and intact. The system is more manual than the destination-calibrated cold-pack engineering some dedicated mail-order operations use, which is the one place Renard's trails on the logistics axis. For Door County visitors, none of this matters — the curds are made that morning, a few feet from where you buy them.
The verdict.
Renard's is the plain-curd benchmark: award-winning, Master Cheesemaker-made, fourth-generation, and exceptional value. If you want the best plain yellow curd by mail or a genuine Door County cheese destination, Renard's is the standard. Our top pick in the plain category.
