This event is focused on connecting cheese wholesale buyers and food professionals to Vermont cheesemakers through a series of organized site visits, educational programs, and sampling sessions designed to provide time for one-on-one conversations and interactions with cheese producers here in Vermont.

SCHEDULE

Saturday August 13

• An organized day of tours hosted across Vermont by individual cheesemaking creameries and farms – so that buyers and industry professionals can see and experience these unique spaces first-hand.

Sunday August 14

A day at Shelburne Farms (Shelburne, Vermont) featuring cheese tastings and conversations with  Vermont cheese producers as well as educational sessions with experts and cheesemakers about cheesemaking, what makes Vermont cheese unique, and the life and efforts of cheesemakers in Vermont – all curated just for our attendees!

• 8:45 AM — Arrival and Coffee
• 9:15 AM —  Welcome
• 9:30 AM — Educational Session One: Growing Great Cheese: How Feed Influcences Flavor.  How can feed and farming practices produce milk that yields the highest expression of a particular land? How can farmers and cheesemakers best assess the return on investment involved in producing that milk? Quality cheese starts with a healthy herd, and Matt was able to dive into herd management practices around the world.  Matt Benham is the Creamery Manager at Jasper Hill Farm, and a recipient of the Daphne Zepos Teaching Award for supporting cheese research and education. Matt spoke with farmers and cheesemakers in the United States, the United Kingdom, and France to look for these answers and debuted his findings at the virtual American Cheese Society Annual Conference in July 2021.  
• 10:30 AM — Educational Session Two:  Panel on Sustainability and Cheesemaking – How Vermont Creameries of All Sizes Incorporate Sustainability into Their Facilities and Practices.  Vermont is home to a wide array of cheesemakers with vastly different production scales and operations. What does working toward sustainability mean to Vermont’s largest and smallest creameries? This panel is a discussion between four cheese producers who are pursuing environmental initiatives, exploring the differences in scale and the common threads between them.
• 11:15 AM-1:15 PM — Sampling Tent Open for Tastings & Conversation with Cheese Producers
• 11:15 AM-1:15 PM — Food truck(s) open for lunch
• 1:15 PM — Educational Session Three: The Napa Valley of Cheese…What Makes Vermont Cheese So Special?  Most everyone agrees that cheese from Vermont is special, but what is the reason behind Vermont’s success? This session uses a historical perspective to explore six, arguably preeminent, factors that contributed to the meteoric rise of Vermont’s artisanal cheesemaking during the past four decades. Dr. Paul Kindstedt is a Professor and Graduate Student Coordinator in the University of Vermont’s Department of Nutrition and Food Science. Dr. Kinstedt’s professional work is dedicated to the dairy farming and cheese industries, and he is the author of American Farmstead Cheese, and Cheese and Culture. Dr. Kindstedt is an Honorary Lifetime Member of the Vermont Cheese Council.
• 2:00 PM — Closing Remarks

WHO SHOULD ATTEND

• Cheese buyers and sellers from specialty food and cheese retail shops, coops, groceries, food hubs, and other cheese selling locations
• Chefs and staff from restaurants and prepared food businesses
• Cheese and food media, influencers, and freelance writers

ATTENDEE PASSES

$75 per person for the whole weekend

MEDIA

• Event press release

Media Contact:  Marty Mundy — Executive Director, Vermont Cheese Council.  info@vtcheese.com

LOOKING FOR ACCOMMODATIONS?

See what’s available from our friends at the New England Inns & Resorts Association.