In the back of a classic Model T Ford pickup rumbling down the streets of Cleveland in 1923, crates of farm-fresh milk clinked and sweated, rattling beneath the hum of the city’s smokestacks. Each misty morning, 15-year-old John Miceli Sr. rode his early milk route, fog curling around his cap as he delivered to the porches of tight-knit Italian families on the east side. As the booming “Fifth City” stirred awake, milk arrived at your door with a familiar name and a warm smile.
He stopped to chat with neighbors and greet familiar faces, but by the end of each delivery day, a few bottles always sat untouched in the truck bed. Day after day, curdling cream swirled down the drain as the unsold milk was poured away. However, young Miceli Sr. saw a lot more potential than just soured milk flowing down the drain.
During the 1920s, Cleveland was beginning to thrive in its major industries, and migration flowed in from Eastern Europe and rural pockets in the states to take part in the growth. At the time, foreign immigrants accounted for 25% of the city’s growth as businesses developed and workforces grew. And Sicilian-raised John Miceli took his very own slice of the pie, or rather, the cheese.
Using his entrepreneurial spirit and knowledge of Italian cuisine, Miceli Sr. began taking the leftover milk and making it into traditional Italian cheeses. He loaded the product right in the bed of his truck and sold homemade scamorza and mozzarella. From there, the demand for his product took off.
Twenty-six years later, Miceli Dairy Products was established.
For three generations, succeeded by Miceli Sr.’s four children and seven grandchildren, the company has carried on the family legacy well, but very soon, Miceli’s will be booming into its biggest expansion yet.
A $128 million expansion will occur in three phases over the next several years, with the first major bounds beginning in the $13 million initial stage. The end goal: a mozzarella factory in Cleveland’s Opportunity Corridor.
Phase one will be the expansion of their cold storage facility in the Buckeye-Woodhill neighborhood.
“It’s exciting,” says Maria Miceli, granddaughter and vice president of marketing. “I think about what my grandfather would have thought. He passed away back in 1999, so I think about 25 years ago, where the company was compared to where it is today and how proud he would be to see how much we’ve grown and how we’ve taken care of the business he started.”
The 32,000-square-foot expansion will create 50 new jobs, increase the company’s production capacity and include the redevelopment of the former Gray Barrel site on East 90th Street into a dry storage facility. The investment comes from the growing success of their soft Italian cheeses like ricotta and mozzarella, which now encroaches upon their current space. The expansion will include a new freezer and a warehouse with space for a cooler, an area for shipping and receiving and a small shipping office.
In order to prepare for development, Miceli’s has been working to slowly acquire acres of land adjacent to the current Miceli campus buildings, and large business decisions, like their biggest expansion yet, are made together at the family table.
“We just decided, ‘You know what, regardless, we’re going to do this,’” says Maria Miceli. “We want to have one campus. We want all our employees in one spot. We want to make this as efficient as possible. … And here we are. We’re ready to start building.”
One small parcel of land was acquired through a partnership with the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority. In the sale, the dairy farm purchased 25 transit passes from the GCRTA Commuter Advantage Program for Miceli’s employees in exchange for a discounted sale price, which linked two Miceli’s properties together.
Phases two and three of the $128 million expansion will stretch west and north of the existing Miceli manufacturing facility, with an expectation to as much as double the current 250-person staff. They remain committed to hiring from Cleveland’s diverse community, with “around between 50% and 60% of [Miceli’s] employees are right from the surrounding neighborhoods”, says Maria Miceli.
The three-phase development plan broke ground this spring and is slated to finish by April of next year. Miceli’s hopes that with new business and employees, the expansion will help bring revitalization to the already successful Opportunity Corridor.
As Miceli’s enters its largest expansion yet, the spirit of that 15-year-old boy still drives the company forward—now with forklifts instead of a Model T pickup and mozzarella by the ton instead of the handful. But one thing remains the same: the heart of the operation is family, and big decisions are still made around the kitchen table.
“I love it, you know. I love coming to work and being able to see my dad every day, and working with all my cousins and my sister—it’s amazing,” says Maria Miceli.
For more updates about Cleveland, sign up for our Cleveland Magazine Daily newsletter, delivered to your inbox six times a week.
Cleveland Magazine is also available in print, publishing 12 times a year with immersive features, helpful guides and beautiful photography and design.
