Vermont Cheese Council

06/12/2026

You may have already seen this in our recent newsletter, but if you’re going to be in Louisville for the American Cheese Society Conference, we want to invite you to mix and mingle with our makers at our Vermont State of Rind Industry Happy Hour!
🥂🧀

Thursday, July 9
5:30pm-6:30pm
Hyatt Regency Louisville
Belmond Room
320 W. Jefferson Street, Louisville, KY 40202
(After Thursday’s sessions just take a convenient skywalk from the Convention Center across to the Hyatt Regency Louisville)

🐐🐄🐑

We’ll be celebrating Vermont makers and sampling sumptuous cheeses, chocolates, jams, and more from the Green Mountain State. (The bar will be cash, but the company: delicious.) Let us bring a little Vermont summer flavor your way.

And of course, it’s always helpful if you can tell us you’re coming at bit.ly/vthappyhour

05/06/2026

Our staff is small but mighty. Last week we had a lot to accomplish and a lot of friends to see right as the calendar flipped from April to May: the Summit; a visit to ; our *own* Artisan Cheesemakers Conference; the in Lee, MA; and finally the Expo.

We didn’t divide and conquer — we divided and bridged, shoulder-to-shoulder and hand-to-hand. Literally:

Destination Management Plans from the Vermont Tourism Summit were brought to each other at our own Conference. Previous year’s programs were traded from some of our staff to others as we start this year’s planning. Vermont Cheese sweatshirts and our favorite local lip balms were passed hand to hand as gifts.

A lost water bottle at one event made its way literally to another state, to be handed off to our Monger in Residence , who would carry it back north to its right home on her return journey. (And of course some of our Vermont Cheese stickers were peeled off and sprinkled all along the way.)

We got to hang with , , , , , , .dairyinnovation, and a ton of other awesome folks.

And of course, the best thing: we got to see our cheesemakers along the way: , , , , , , , , , (did we miss anyone?) ♥️

We have to admit that we’ve been covered up lately, and slow in returning emails, getting things in the mail, and so on. Coming out of winter has been hard. But your Vermont Cheese crew is very real: real people, doing real things, in real places. Really caring, and really trying their best.

Pardon us while we take a very real nap. 😴

03/31/2026

We're only a month out from our Artisan Cheesemakers Conference on Friday, May 1 in Rutland, VT. This year's theme is Storytelling: Guiding Cheese from Farm to Plate, and although cheese is the lens, our conference is open to all: makers, mongers, chefs, retailers, other industry and food producers of all flavors.

This full-day, intimate intensive features five sessions:

🧀 The Art of Storytelling, a 3-session iterative workshop with The Passion Economy author Adam Davidson in which he leads us through how to communicate our work and products as irreplaceable, highly specialized, and deeply personal.

🧀 The Art of Tasting with Yvonne Yeoh at Neal's Yard Dairy UK in which she explores the "tasting and talking" cornerstones of selling fine cheese, the anatomy of the feedback loop with mongers, and a delicious tasting tour through cheeses of Great Britain!

🧀 The Art of Tabling with World Championship Cheesemonger Emilia d'Albero, in which she demonstrates best practices for presenting your cheese at trade events, and setting the bar for how your cheese should be cut, displayed, and wrapped after it leaves your arms. Emilia is joined by Kat Filipkowski, who will lend her perspective as Head Cheesemonger at DiBruno Bros Philadelphia.

All attendees will move through all sessions together, in an iterative all-day experience. (Advance registration required.)

🎟 Register at vtcheese.com/conference or through the link in our bio!

Psst -- going to in Lee, MA the next day? We're only 2 hours apart up beautiful Route 7!)

Cheese Credit: Barn First Creamery • Photo Credit: Jessica Sipe

03/13/2026

This year's Artisan Cheesemakers Conference theme is Storytelling: Guiding Cheese from Farm to Plate -- and we have a fantastic lineup for this all-day, action-packed intensive, including:

THE ART OF STORYTELLING, a three-session workshop with Adam Davison featuring (1) a keynote on leveraging specialized passions to create high-value, niche products for targeted audiences, (2) a lunchtime working session on what makes stories work, and (3) a capstone of story development, sharing, and advice based on artisan cheesemakers and their products.

THE ART OF TASTING with Yvonne Yeoh (Neal's Yard Dairy, UK) guiding us through the "tasting and talking" of selling fine cheese, practicalities of a thoughtful approach, and anatomy of a healthy monger feedback loop -- as well as a tasting tour of some exemplary cheeses of Great Britain!

THE ART OF TABLING with World Championship Cheesemonger Emilia d'Albero (Formaticum) on best practices for presenting your cheese at a trade event, how cheese handling and display communicates the caliber of your cheese, and setting the bar for how your cheese is cut, displayed, and wrapped after it leaves you. Emilia is joined by Kat Filipkowski, head cheesemonger at DiBruno Bros Philadelphia.

Our conference is OPEN TO ALL: cheesemakers, mongers, chefs, retail buyers, industry folks, and food producers of all flavors! While the framework is cheese, all are welcome! (Advance registration required.)

Guild & Partner Discounts: cheese guilds, Vermont food or farming associations, or Vermont food co-operative staff: reach out to us at [email protected] -- you may be eligible for 15-20% off!

A big round of applause for our lead Conference Sponsors:

GOLD:
Chamber & Economic Development of the Rutland Region ()
Dairy Connection ()
The Hub CoWorks ()

SILVER:
Organic Valley ()

BRONZE:
Bruns Bros Process Equipment
ImageTek ()
New England Dairy ()
Ullmer's Dairy Equipment Fabricator ()

Interested in showing your support? We still have sponsorship opportunities available: contact Chelsea Johnson at [email protected].

02/11/2026

There’s perhaps nothing more “Vermont” than dairy farmers and cheesemakers coming out in the snow for ’s Cheese & Dairy Fest. 🥛 🧀 🏫 We love to see it, as part of the magic of cheese is its ability to carry fluid milk from summer into winter — there’s something extra special about being able to bring those dense nutrients out at a time of cold and dimness.

Students agree because it was packed shoulder-to-shoulder with one student yelling excitedly “OH IT’S CHEESE FEEEST!” from the top of the stairs and another remarking “The thing I love most about Cheese & Dairy Fest is that there are always makers here that I don’t know anything about.”

UVM has been a cornerstone of Vermont’s dairy for well over a century, providing research and technical assistance, but also simply in creating conduits and programs to connect young folks with the importance of both the science and the craft of dairy.

A big thank you to for hosting, and a cheesy high-five to , , , , , , and . ❄️🧣🧀

02/06/2026

The first Friday in February, Vermont cheesemakers trek through the snow to come together for the Annual Meeting of the Vermont Cheese Council. We elect Board seats, discuss important things like our 5-year strategic plan, hear about upcoming programs and opportunities, and pack in some cheese education too.

But by far the best and most important thing is getting to see all of our friends. Vermont cheesemakers are nothing if not a community, and the cries of “Hi hi hello good morning!” and “It’s so good to see you!” ring out like bells between the sound of boots stomping off snow and coffee getting poured.

Our Educational Afternoon was sponsored by our long-time friends at Dairy Connection (), and was a smash hit with Trevor Warmedahl and his presentation (and new book!) entitled Cheese Trekking: How Microbes, Landscapes, Livestock, and Human Culture Shape Terroir. (Applause to our Education Committee Zoe Brickley of , Morgan Beckwith of , Heidi Emanuel of , Hannah Kuhn of , Molly Semler of , and Rachel Fritz Schaal of who do all our educational planning and shaping!)

Heaps of gratitude to our friends at .inn, who gave our cheesemakers and dairy farmers a last-minute home with grace and cheer when our original location was met with an emergency, and also to Billings Farm & Museum who always lends their hands on this side of the Green Mountains.

And as always, thank you to our makers; their time and talent is what keeps Vermont’s incredible cheese culture (pun intended) continuously moving forward.

01/12/2026

It's never a surprise when we see our makers on the cover of magazines - but it's always a joy. Each year, culture magazine: the word on cheese publishes their "ultimate list of cheeses that should stay on your radar all year long" and Vermont makers always represent. 💪

Congratulations to our friends at:
🧀 Jasper Hill Farm for Bayley Hazen Blue (Greensboro, Vermont)
🧀 Murray's Cheese in collaboration with Jasper Hill Farm for Cave-Aged Barnstorm Blue
🧀 Parish Hill Creamery for Jack's Blue (Westminster West, Vermont)
🧀 Vermont Creamery for Coupole (Websterville, Vermont)
🧀 von Trapp Farmstead for Mt. Alice (Waitsfield, Vermont)
🧀 Wegmans in collaboration with Vermont Creamery: Truffle Shuffle (Websterville, Vermont)
🧀 Woodlawn Creamery for Pawlet (West Pawlet, Vermont)

It's especially fun to see representation from the north, central, south east, and south west; our is crammed to the brim with different microclimates, elevations, and topography, with our makers shepherding those small differences into big parts of what makes each cheese special. The furthest apart of these makers (from up in the Northeast Kingdom toward Canada, to the South toward New York and Massachusetts ) is still only ~130 miles.

The ultimate list of cheeses that should stay on your radar all year long Welcome to our Best Cheeses issue—a curated selection of our favorite cheeses

12/20/2025

Honestly there’s nowhere we’d rather be on a winter Saturday afternoon — at our friends handing out Vermont Cheese Holiday Tasting Kits to everyone who pre-ordered. (One of our cheesemakers is managing pickup on the “east coast” of Vermont at and having a great time too! Thank you Suzy!)
🌲❄️🧀

We still have a couple kits that are available to ship — we’d love for you to have them. They *won’t* arrive in time for Christmas, but they’re a great New Years Eve hostess gift or party piece. (Get them at the link in our bio or vtcheese.com/holidaytastingkit).

💬 We’ve heard from folks who are making this their new Christmas Eve tradition, who grabbed theirs with a smile on their way to a holiday party, who bought one for “the hardest person to gift for,” and even had a couple of calls today just from folks just telling us how much they loved it once they opened it. 🎁

A huge thank you to our sponsors , , , , , , , , and for making this kit possible — as well as to our Resident Cheese Monger Mary Tuthill, for their packing and shipping assistance, the wonderful cheese team at , Elizabeth at for loving our makers like we do, and our beverage experts and for not only serving as pickup locations but also making pairing recommendations for each cheese.

Thank you for supporting local makers this season, and for letting us be part of your holidays.

12/18/2025

We're hard at work getting our Holiday Tasting Kits packed, and wanted to let you know that today is the last day to order to guarantee arrival by Christmas! We'll still be shipping for arrival after Christmas (and these kits make an awesome New Years Eve party piece or hostess gift) -- but if you've got your heart set on having it for the Christmas holiday, get it ordered today! 🎄📦🧀 Questions? Email us at [email protected].

12/11/2025

We are delighted to announce that our Holiday Tasting Kits are now available for shipping to the Northeast plus a little further: CT, DE, MA, ME, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA RI, VA, and VT.

We didn't think at the outset we'd be able to offer shipping this year, and we're thrilled that it's come together just in time for Christmas. Snag yours at ➡️ vtcheese.com/holidaytastingkit ⬅️ (Already purchased a kit? Please check your inbox for a special thank you.)

The ultimate in shop local, eat local: our Holiday Tasting Kit featuring nine Vermont cheeses and four accoutrements -- plus, an exclusive macaron collection that celebrates Vermont's cheese makers by incorporating six Vermont cheeses into the recipe!

Let's meet our cheeses (in order of appearance!):
🧀 Brie – Vermont Farmstead Cheese Co.
🧀 Butter Cheddar – Billings Farm & Museum
🧀 Gouda – Cabot Creamery Cooperative
🧀 Gisele (Alpine-style washed with apple cider) – Boston Post Dairy, LLC
🧀 Madonna (ripened chevre) – Sage Goat Farm & Dairy
🧀 Conundrum (special batch bark-wrapped w/sparkling wine wash) – Jasper Hill Farm
🧀 Urdang (washed-rind) – Barn First Creamery
🧀 Truffle Cheddar – Grafton Village Cheese Company
🧀 Boucher Blue – Green Mountain Blue Cheese

But that's not all! We've partnered with Small Oven Pastries on an exclusive 6-Macaron Collection that highlights even more Vermont cheesemakers:
💚 Pawlet Pear & Toffee - Woodlawn Creamery
💜 Fat Sheep Fig Maple Crunch - Fat Sheep Farm & Cabins
💕 Apple Crumble - Shelburne Farms
💙 Middlebury Blue Winter Plum - Blue Ledge Farm
💛 Harbison Evergreen-Cassis - Jasper Hill Farm
💗 Chevre Cocoa Caliente - Vermont Creamery

And of course, some sweet and savory extras from the generous folks at Blake Hill Preserves, Whitney's Castleton Crackers, Lake Champlain Chocolates, and Vermont Salumi, who've given to this kit as part of their support for local cheesemakers.

A unique gift for someone you love (or just yourself!), employees, clients, or just an easy party piece for holiday gatherings!

But don't delay: we have a limited number of these kits and when they're gone, they're gone!
Get yours at ➡️ vtcheese.com/holidaytastingkit ⬅️

Proceeds support the Vermont Cheese Council and Vermont cheesemakers. Questions? Reach out at [email protected].