Recipe of the Month
This month's recipe blends a few distinct summer flavors - Lemon Verbena Peach Cobbler with Jaba�ero Cheddar. Thanks to Fromage du Monde in Fredricksburg, TX for the recipe!
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Mark Your Calendar
We are now accepting entries for the 26th Annual Judging & Competition. To enter at the regular rate of $55 per entry, your entry forms and payment must be received by the ACS office by Friday, July 9, 2010.
Entries received from July 10 through July 16, 2010, will be subject to an additional $25 late fee per entry, so do not delay! Entries will not be accepted after July 16. If you have questions, email Michelle at [email protected].
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Attention: Authors!
ACS is compiling a list of books for the ACS Conference Bookstore in Seattle. In addition to ACS industry favorites and essentials, we invite any and all published ACS members to submit their titles. If you have a book that is hot off the press, ACS is a particularly great place to kick things off!
If you have a book you would like to have included, contact Michelle Lee by June 18th. |
Member Profile: Fifth Town Cheese
Could it be North America's Greenest Dairy? Read about Liz Campbell's visit to Fifth Town Artisan Cheese, Canada's only LEED Platinum manufacturing facility. |
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Member Milestones
DCI Cheese Company has debuted a new line of party trays called Party Express. The initial launch includes a Gourmet Party Tray and Great Midwest Tray-but the company can also source regional variations for private label. DCI also announced the introduction of Salemville Smokehaus Blue, an applewood-smoked cheese produced by an Amish community in Cambria, Wisconsin.
September Farm and Birchrun Hills Farm have joined with 6 other farmstead and artisanal cheesemakers in southeastern Pennsylvania to form a marketing cooperative and new web site, Chester County Cheese Artisans.
Cheryl Sullivan has been named Northeast Regional Sales Manager at Best Cheese Corporation. Sullivan has over 20 years of experience including key positions at Atalanta, Mount Snow Resort and Crystal Food Import. A devotee to the world of Specialty Cheese and Food, Sullivan serves on ACS's Sponsorship Committee, the Cheese Certification Committee and the Advisory Committee for Culture: the word on cheese. |
Call for Volunteers
If you are interested in volunteering at the conference in Seattle, please email us your contact info at [email protected].
More info to come in next month's CheeseBytes! |
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Countdown to Cheese-a-Topia
 Dear Friends, Get ready for Cheese-a-Topia! Registration for the 2010 American Cheese Society Annual Conference & Competition in Seattle, WA, August 25-28, is officially underway.
This year's conference was built based on your invaluable feedback from last year's Town Hall Meeting in Austin and our post-conference member survey. Conference co-chairs Sasha Davies and Kurt Dammeier along with a team of dedicated ACS volunteers were industrious, creative, and incredibly hardworking in creating a conference unsurpassed in educational and networking opportunities including:
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Cheesemaking with ACS cheese makers and educators
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Networking opportunities with colleagues, cheese professionals, and enthusiasts
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Remarkable venues and experiences
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Regional tours that are a road map to fine cheese shops, farmstead and artisan creameries, breweries, wineries and restaurants from British Columbia to Oregon
This conference, its speakers, topics, tasting sessions, and events will enlighten you with relevant and timely ideas that you can take back to immediately add value to your creamery, store, business, community, and table. You will have a rare opportunity to:
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Make cheese in small groups
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Practice industry crisis management techniques and drills
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Listen to experts from Europe and North America share their experience and advice
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Participate in innovative cheese sensory sessions
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Network with cheesemakers, authors, academics, distributors, mongers, affineurs and enthusiasts
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Experience the true Pacific Northwest style
These timely and targeted topics will be addressed by an exciting roster of top speakers including:
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Laurie Demeritt, COO and President of The Hartman Group
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Michael Pollan, Author and Professor at UC Berkeley
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Roland Barth�l�my, Pr�vot of the Guilde des Fromagers- Confr�rie Saint-Uguzon
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Dr. MaryAnne Drake, Professor Sensory Analysis and Flavor Chemistry, North Carolina State University
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Ari Weinzweig, Co-founder and CEO of Zingerman's Community of Businesses
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Steven Jenkins, Cheese Authority, Author, Partner at Fairway Markets, and 2008 ACS Lifetime Achievement Award recipient.
Cheesemakers will want to enter their creations in our 26th Annual Judging & Competition, and might wish to take part in our popular Meet the Cheesemaker event. This conference is sure to nourish the mind, recharge your passion, and invigorate thoughtful dialogue in our remarkable, vibrant ACS cheese community. I look forward to seeing you there.
This is your association,
David Gremmels
President |
Business is more than "Busy-ness"
 As you go through your workday--be it on a farm, in a shop, or behind a desk--you get into a routine. You know the pace of your day, the tasks you will perform, and that you will undoubtedly be faced with the unexpected. Sometimes the "busy-ness" of each day becomes so constant that you forget the "business" for which you are working so hard. Ultimately, all business comes down to serving customers. At ACS, our members are our customers, and our business is to serve you by helping your business do better.
One significant way ACS helps you is by creating the best conference possible each year with targeted information that can help you take a step back from your "busy-ness" to focus on improving your "business." This year's conference is no exception, and the wealth of knowledge, information, networking, camaraderie and fun packed into three days will astound you. I hope you will take a few days in August to join us, as they may well prove to be the most valuable three days of your year. Especially for small business owners and those who work independently, the chance to escape from your day-to-day routine and meet others who understand your issues and concerns cannot be over-valued.
Albert Einstein defined insanity as "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." So, I encourage you to remain sane by doing something different--breaking out of your daily grind to attend the ACS Conference in Seattle. You'll be amazed by the exceptional and different results you'll achieve.
See you in Seattle,
Nora Weiser
Executive Director |
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Momentum Builds for Fromager Certification
The Fromager Certification Committee under chairperson Susan Page Sturman is forging ahead with the next important step towards certification: compiling and assessing the key knowledge needed to perform the jobs of fromager or cheesemonger. This work will create a Body of Knowledge (BOK) that will be the first of its type for the cheese industry in the U.S. and for professionals who work with cheese from the moment it leaves the cheesemaker to the moment it reaches the consumer. Click here to learn more about this committee and this exciting development. |
Judging and Competition Notes
Each year, the categories become more defined (110 of them this year) and the ACS Judging Committee increases its support to help cheesemakers choose the best category for entry into the competition. As Americans create New World cheese and claim title to "original recipes" we have marvelous cheeses that overlap old and new world styles, standards of identity and, of course, the 110 ACS subcategories.
Click here to read our guidelines and some frequently asked questions about categories.
Click here for the revised list of categories this year. |
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DMI Offers Crisis Management Training
Following a successful Northeast Region Drill in Seattle, Dairy Management, Inc. (DMI) will hold its second full-day crisis drill of 2010 in Atlanta on July 22. The Southeast United Dairy Industry Association (SUDIA) and Dairy Farmers, Inc. are co-hosting this event, which will bring together dairy industry communicators, processors, co-ops and key government partners. The drill challenges participants to think quickly, address scenario twists and leverage the industry's crisis plan as they respond to a food safety crisis that touches every level of the industry.
Past participants describe the drill as "masterfully crafted and intense," adding that the realistic scenario serves as another reminder that preparing for a crisis is extremely important and requires frequent practice and diligence in maintaining partnerships, contact lists and protocols.
The Southeast Region Drill will take place in Atlanta on Thursday, July 22, at the Hilton Atlanta Airport. Space is limited, so register now if you're interested in attending. DMI and DairyMAX will host the Southwest Region Drill in Dallas on November 11. |
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2010 Scholarships Awarded
The Scholarship Committee is thrilled to announce we are giving out 6 full and 4 partial conference scholarships to the following members this year.
Congratulations, all!
Full Scholarships
Ann Starbard, Crystal Brook Farm
Lucille Giroux, Fromagerie la Moutonni�r
Rebecca King, Garden Variety Cheese
Jennifer Perkins, Looking Glass Creamery
Denise Dixon, Morningland Dairy
Katie Hedrich, Saxon Homestead Creamery
Partial Scholarships
Brian Schlatter, Canal Junction Farmstead Cheese
Clare Paris, Larkhaven Farm
Galen Musser, Milton Creamery
Kirstin Jackson, San Francisco Cheese School and Solano Cellers
Recipients of the John Crompton Memorial Retailer scholarship have not yet been announced, but the next CheeseBytes will have an update! |
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ACS: Keeping You Connected
Can't wait for the conference to converse with fellow members? Visit our exclusive member social networking site, CheeseWire and join the conversations! Join our Facebook page to get daily news and updates, and follow our twitter feed for quick updates on the go!
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