BIPOC folx are often overlooked in the cheese, agriculture, and specialty food and beverage industries. This session highlights Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour in cheese, while also discussing some of the challenges we've had to overcome and continue to face in order to be seen, heard, and respected. Our panel includes speakers with experience across different segments of the cheese industry.
Whitney Roberts began her career in the cheese industry as a cheesemonger at Whole Foods Market. She then became a cheesemaker at Pure Luck Dairy in central Texas, and now teaches virtual cheese classes with Antonelli's Cheese Shop in Austin. Having always recognized the lack of diversity... Read More →
Good marketers know that in order to capitalize on shifting market dynamics, competitive threats, and evolving consumer demands businesses must be agile enough to deviate from their best laid plans. But what happens when the disruption is so massive that even the best marketing plans go out the window? Crises require more than agility, they require action. In this session, you will hear from industry leaders about their organizations' response to the crises of 2020, and hear insights into how to build an effective crisis marketing strategy into your own marketing plan.
Aging high-quality cheese to develop more mature flavors and increase value can be relatively inexpensive. Choices made in managing an aging program have a significant impact on a cheese business. A company can compromise cash flow at the risk of losing value on unsuitable-aged cheese if not properly monitored. Employing trained individuals to assess cheese on a routine basis carries a cost. Maximizing value from a living food, especially during a pandemic where no one has a crystal ball, is a major challenge. This panel of industry professionals will present their approaches, experiences, and field questions from the audience.
Tony and Julie Hook have been making artisan cheddar, blue cheese, world champion colby and many other varieties for over 45 years. Established in 1976, Hook's Cheese Company is a family owned and operated business located in the historic "Shake Rag" district of scenic Mineral Point... Read More →
The coronavirus pandemic has impacted general business, the food industry, and artisan cheesemakers in unpredictable ways. With the situation developing differently throughout the country and over the last year, businesses further up in the supply chain may offer a unique view of the industry. Suppliers with frequent, routine relationships with cheesemakers nationwide may be able to offer quantifiable measures to illustrate the effects of COVID-19.
Following up the first ACS LGBrieTQ+ panel. Moderated by cheese industry LGBTQ+ activist, Eris Schack, questions will explore the unique challenges that these LGBTQ+ cheesemakers faced in building their businesses, as well as exploring what draws members of the queer community to work in our industry. Talk of history of what it was like being out and queer in the past, plus has things have changed and how they can improve. Will include an open question and answer period during the second half of the presentation, for industry members to ask their own questions from these accomplished panel members.
Veteran farmstead cheesemakers discuss their current approaches to dairy farming, where they started and how they got there. Hear how their farming methods have evolved to produce the milk necessary to make the highest quality, ACS award-winning raw milk cheese. How raw milk cheesemaking has determined their breed, feed and land management decisions, and how they’ve dealt with challenges particular to this mode of production, including working with the changes inherent in seasonal production.
This is a mix of a panel discussion plus interactive Open Networking event that will help current ACS CCP's look at options of where their accreditation can possibly take them within their own towns, companies, and beyond.
Salt makes up an average of just 1% of a final cheese, but it is vital to flavor development and the prevention of spoilage. The source and the size of the grain are determined by the technical application as well as the philosophy of the cheesemaker. Historically, the methods of employing salt were determined by geography and circumstance, but now this is a matter of choice. Discussion will include the role salt plays in making and aging of cheese, and the different ways that salt is used in cheesemaking and affinage.
When the pandemic-related lockdown became a reality, businesses at all levels were left scrambling. Some businesses and individuals wasted no time reinventing or perhaps inventing their businesses in the only way they could: online. No one ever expected the lockdown to last as long as it did (or has?), but it not only ushered in a new way of doing business, it also brought in a new way of life. Even those perfectly able to get out of their houses decided they liked cheese classes coming to them. Businesses that relied on in-person training re-evaluated the need for travel. Cheesemakers recognized they needed to show up at their computers (and upgrade their wi-fi) for Zoom events The panelists in this session embraced technology to maintain and even grow their businesses early on and, despite the challenges, helped define the cheese business for the digital age. They will share their stories, their pain, and essentially, some how-tos for those who are still trying to navigate this unexpected way of doing business and, for that matter, living.
Greenhouse gases, water usage, environmental care, runoff – they may be buzzwords in the media, but they’re real concerns for anyone involved in the dairy industry. Learn how they define sustainability and the methods these farmers and processors are taking to ensure the utmost care of the land and water while producing award-winning cheeses and dairy products.