The Big Cheese

FROM PIZZA HUT AND DOMINO’S TO LITTLE CAESARS AND PAPA JOHN’S, THE VAST MAJORITY OF PIZZAS IN AMERICA FEATURE MOZZARELLA FROM ONE COMPANY. FOR THE FIRST TIME, SECRETIVE BILLIONAIRE JAMES LEPRINO EXPLAINS HOW HE BUILT A CHEESE JUGGERNAUT.

- Chloe Sorvino

An avalanche of cheese pours into the test kitchen at the Denver headquarters of Leprino Foods, the mozzarella supplier to Pizza Hut, Domino’s and Papa John’s. First, thin wisps of low-moisture mozzarella, then a diced alternative, followed by an “artisanal” version, cut short and wide. Then come flavored cheeses made with a mozzarella base, as well as provolone, cheddar and Monterey Jack.

Cooks bring out a take-and-bake pizza, a New York style pie and a stuffed crust, fresh from nearly a dozen ovens. Another course features frozen food made with Leprino products, including ham-and-cheddar Hot Pockets, Stouffer’s lasagna and Smart Ones baked ziti. Then come the cheese cubes marketed as snack pairings: pear flavor with nuts or Gorgonzola with pretzels. Team Leprino next brings out dessert: salted-caramel-flavored mozzarella wrapped in hot dough, rolled in cinnamon sugar. After an hour, the plastic shot glasses appear for sampling the company’s lactose and whey powders, which end up in protein bars, Yoplait yogurt, Pillsbury Toaster Strudel and baby formula consumed by millions of infants annually.

Two floors above this dairy deluge, in a dark-wood-paneled office with white marble floors, Corinthian columns and gold accents, sits James Leprino, the Willy Wonka of cheese. “It’s hard for me to believe I agreed to this,” the 79-year-old billionaire says. “I really like to keep my privacy.”