About Manwaring Cheese
Basil Manwaring started working in the family dairy with his father, Arthur Manwaring, at a young age. Basil and his siblings would assist in milk delivery on a dairy wagon pulled by horses. Basil eventually made it to a Blackfoot creamery. He met Edna, a butter wrapper, who later became his wife. He left there to work as a dairy manager at Utah State University, where he made ice cream, cheese, and butter. Basil began working at the Nelson-Ricks Creamery in Rexburg shortly after receiving his degree from Utah State University. Manwaring Cheese purchased the small plant in Ashton from Nelson-Ricks when it became available and opened Manwaring Cheese. Basil decided to construct a new plant in Rigby on the Yellowstone Highway after 16 years in Ashton. On February 3, 1971, the Rigby plant produced its first batch of cheese.