Cheesemakers, Inc

Cheesemakers, Inc., located in Montgomery County, Texas, was founded by James C. Keliehor, P.E., who is originally from South Texas where he grew up on his family farm. He learned from his aunt and uncle about making dairy products such as butter, butter milk, and fresh soft cheese curds on their dairy farm. After graduating from the University of Texas at Austin as a Mechanical Engineer, he became involved in the food industry when he began working with his cousin, Dr. James C. Curry, owner of Custom Ingredients, Inc.of New Braunfels.

Keliehor created customized cheese formulations and produced and sold cheese ingredients to various food processors across the nation while working with Custom Ingredients, Inc.

In 1992, Keliehor started his own custom design manufacturing company for automating food processing, Custom Food Equipment, Inc. (CFE). From the inception of CFE, James was involved with major food manufacturing companies. In the summer of 1994, Keliehor was asked by Land O’ Lakes to partner with them on a project to deliver and form fresh cheddar cheese curd without damaging the delicate consistency of the curd. This concept had been tried unsuccessfully for years until Keliehor applied his Positive Displacement Delivery technology to solve the problem. After years of experimentation with Land O’ Lakes and continual trips to Wisconsin from Texas, Keliehor developed and has a patent pending on his design for a Cheese Curd Delivery and Forming System.