Opportunities – Maine Cheese Guild

The Northeast Dairy Business Innovation Center (NE-DBIC) is excited to kick off the second round of the Dairy Food Safety and Certification Grant. This round comes after the success of the 2022 Dairy Food Safety and Certification Grant in which we funded close to $300k for 12 projects across the Northeast.

Applicants eligible for these funds must fall into at least one of the following categories:

1. Dairy farmer (producer) of milk that is headquartered or based in the Northeast and sources or produces milk within the Northeast.
2. Dairy processors that are headquartered in the Northeast that transform raw milk into an edible product with milk sourced from the Northeast region. Processors must be licensed in a way that their product can be sold across state lines OR are a processor whose grant project will help their business move toward getting licensed in a way that will allow them to sell their product across state lines.
3. Dairy producer association/dairy council which represents and promotes dairy products/dairy businesses of the Northeast.

Learn more here.

ACS has opened registration for its 2022 summer conference in Portland, Oregon. Here’s the scoop from the ACS:

Registration for Blazing the Trail for Cheese is available. Conference registration information and links are here.

CHEESE PROFESSIONALS WILL BLAZE TRAIL TO PORTLAND, ORE., JULY 20-23
AURORA, Colo. – March 3, 2022 – After a three-year hiatus, the American Cheese Society’s Annual Conference makes its much-anticipated, in-person return this summer.

The 39th Annual Conference, “Blazing the Trail for Cheese”, will be held from July 20-23 in Portland, Oregon, with the Pacific Northwest’s own Tillamook Creamery as the event’s marquee sponsor.

“Tillamook is Oregon-made and Oregon proud, and our cooperative is thrilled to play host to professionals from the cheese industry in the Americas and, indeed, from all over the world,” Tillamook’s Denise LaBrie said. Renowned for its cheese, ice cream, yogurt, and butter, each year the cooperative releases a cheddar aged 3 years and a cheddar aged ten years under its Maker’s Reserve vintage cheddar brand.

Conference-goers will also be able to attend an awards ceremony, where the winners of the American Cheese Society’s Annual Judging and Competition (held this May in Minneapolis) will be announced.

In addition, both the ACS Certified Cheese Professional exam, and the ACS Certified Cheese Sensory Evaluator T.A.S.T.E. test, will once again be held in-person.

Other conference favorites, including Meet the Cheesemaker, Midnight Mongers, and the Cheese Crawl, will make a welcome return. More than 30 educational sessions will be held on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, with topics including:

● Philosophy Behind the Farm: A Panel of Diverse Small Ruminant Operations, featuring Kathryn Spann, Prodigal Farm and Mariana Marques de Almeida, Mrs. J & Co. along with a panel of experts
● What Grows Together Goes Together: Oregon’s Dynamic Geological History and Terroir – a
tasting session with Katie Bray, Oregon Cheese Guild; Scott Burns, Portland State University; and Jim Bernau, Willamette Valley Vineyards
● Cheese gone bad?: Microbial Challenges and Potential Solutions – a food safety and food
science session from a panel of Oregon State University scientists.

About American Cheese Society

ACS is the leading organization supporting the understanding, appreciation, and promotion of artisan, farmstead, and specialty cheeses produced in the Americas. At 2,300 members strong, ACS provides advocacy, education, business development, and networking opportunities for cheesemakers, retailers, enthusiasts, and extended industry. ACS strives to continually raise the quality and availability of cheese in the Americas. Since its founding in 1983, ACS proudly hosts the foremost annual educational conference and world-renowned cheese judging and competition in North America. ACS is a 501(c)6 nonprofit association headquartered in Denver, Colo. To learn more about ACS, please visit www.cheesesociety.org or contact 720-328-2788.