Texas Is Hiding One of the World’s Biggest Cheese Factories

I’ve written about a lot of oversized things in Texas—giant cowboy boots, massive flea markets, you name it. But when I started researching the biggest cheese factory in the state, the answer hit close to home—literally.

Texas is well-known as cattle country, and while most folks think “beef,” we’re also major players in the dairy game. And where there’s dairy, there’s cheese.

The Biggest Cheese Factory in Texas Is Right Here in Lubbock

It makes perfect sense for cheese factories to be near dairy farms—it keeps costs down and streamlines the process from cow to carton. That’s where Lubbock comes in.

While Lubbock isn’t smack-dab in the middle of dairy country, it’s close enough to benefit. Plus, it offers something many rural areas can’t: access to technology, infrastructure, and the research pipeline at Texas Tech. That combination made it the ideal spot for the Leprino Foods cheese plant.

Leprino isn’t just any cheese maker. They’re the largest mozzarella producer in the world, and their 850,000-square-foot facility in Lubbock County churns out 8 million pounds of cheese and dairy products every single day.

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If you've eaten pizza lately, chances are you’ve had their cheese. Leprino supplies mozzarella to nearly every major pizza chain—Domino’s, Pizza Hut, Little Caesars, Papa John’s, and more. Their cheese also makes its way into packaged foods, frozen meals, and countless restaurant dishes.

So while Lubbock may not be the first place that comes to mind when you think of cheese, it's quietly feeding the nation—one slice at a time.