Several local and state officials joined company representatives on Tuesday, Sept. 20 for the ribbon cutting at the Castelli Cheese plant in Blockville, NY.

ASHVILLE – A new company has taken over the cheese manufacturing plant in Ashville.

As part of an economic development deal with the state and county, Castelli America is now operating the former Empire Specialty Cheese plant on Fairbanks Rd.

Castelli America is the first plant in the United States owned and operated by the Nuova Castelli Group, based in Italy. Officials from the company were in Ashville Tuesday morning to officially announce their taking over the facility, which had run into financial problems while being managed by Empire Specialty Cheese.

Castelli President Paul Bensabat explained that the company has actually been in operation since 1892 and has made a name for itself in Italy as a producer and distributor of various Italian cheeses.

“Castelli is a very old company. It is a 125-year-old company that dates back to 1892. Very few companies have the privilege of being around for 125 years,” Bensabat said. “It is the second largest cheese manufacturer in Italy and is the first manufacturer of what we call protected denomination of origin cheeses – basically the Parmigiano-Reggiano and the Grana Padano – these specialty cheeses that require a lot of care, attention, and very specific rules to be able to produce it.”

Bensabat said the Chautauqua County facility is not only the company’s first plant in the U.S., but he’s hoping it will help to serve as the north American headquarters as the company continues to expand into the U.S. market.

The Castelli announcement was due in large part to Empire State Development, which gave the company a $500,000 grant and a $5.5 million loan to upgrade the local facility. The company will also continue payments on $600,000 in business loans that Empire Specialty Cheese had received from the state, via the county IDA.

The plant currently employs about 80 workers and works with more than 90 different regional dairy farms, mostly from the Amish community.