ATLANTA — Sometimes chance can be the best source of new ideas.

Not long ago, Schuman Cheese found itself in possession of some Extra Aged Cello Copper Kettle Parmesan after it had completed a production run. 

So the company’s cheesemakers decided to age the leftover cheese more than twice as long as the regular batch (three years instead of 16 months), said Schuman’s Tino Fernandez.

The result is Special Edition Cello Copper Kettle Parmesan, which Schuman debuted at IDDBA ’22.

“For a domestic parm, it really stands out,” Fernandez said.

Also at IDDBA, Schuman debuted four new higher-end value-added trays featuring either cubed cheese alone or cubed cheese paired with proteins like soppressata. Shipping under the CELLO brand, the trays are a higher-end alternative to other, similar products currently on the market, Fernandez said.