Provel is rarely used or sold outside of St. Louis.[6] Provel can be purchased at St. Louis-area grocery stores such as Schnucks or Dierbergs Markets, and Hy-Vee grocery stores across the Midwest.
History
Provel was purportedly invented for St. Louis–style pizza in the 1940s by Costa Grocery (now Roma Grocery on the Hill), in collaboration with Hoffman Dairy of Wisconsin (now part of Kraft Foods), according to St. Louis Post-Dispatch food writer Joe Bonwich. Provel was developed to meet demand for a pizza cheese with a clean bite, melting well while breaking off nicely when cut or bitten.[7]Imo's Pizza founder Ed Imo claims credit for popularizing Provel through his chain.[5]
Neither Kraft Foods nor Roma Grocery has a definitive answer for the origin of the name, although one popular theory is that it is a portmanteau of the words provolone and mozzarella, two of the cheeses for which it is substituted.[7]
Trademark
The Provel name trademark was first used in 1947 and held by the Churny Company, Inc. of Glenview, Illinois. Churny later became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kraft Foods[8] after it was closed in 2012.[9]
In 2021, Lactalis acquired Hoffman Dairy from Kraft.[10] As of 2024, Lactalis holds the Provel name trademark,[11] but does not appear to be using this name: Hoffman's Pizza Cheese is simply known as "2/5 LB St. Louis Style Pizza Cheese" in the Lactalis Culinary catalogue.[12]
Distribution
Imo's Pizza acquired Costa's Grocery, which had the sole rights to sell Provel in St. Louis,[5] some time between 1964 and 1985.[13] Imo's continues to package and sell shredded Provel cheese to end customers, as of 2024.[14]
