2012 Certified Cheese Professional™ Exam is Full! Applications are Now Being Accepted for 2013 

ACS Presents at FDA Public Meeting 

ACS Enhances Online Education Tools 

Recording of "Storage Temperatures Necessary to Maintain Cheese Safety" is Now Online

The month of February is marked by holidays celebrating love and leadership. Both of these qualities have been front and center in recent weeks with our volunteer board and committee members giving freely of their time and expertise (the love part) in support of initiatives which serve our broader industry (the leadership part).

As we near the realization of a 7-year process of launching the Certified Cheese Professional™ Exam, we have hit some major milestones. Much to the surprise and delight of those leading the charge, seats for the exam have been filled to capacity for 2012. Registrations are now being accepted for 2013.

This is extraordinary in the world of certification exams which average just 30% capacity in their first year. It is also a testament to the vision of those who have worked hard to make the exam a reality and to the passion and enthusiasm of the cheese community.

If you are sitting for the exam (or thinking about it in future years), be sure to check out these online ACS resources: Body of Knowledge, bibliography, recordings of Winter Webinars, and the newly updated Directory of Cheese Educators.

As this exciting initiative becomes a reality, another important committee is stepping up to the plate. Members of the Regulatory & Academic Committee have begun work drafting a document to outline Best Practices for Cheesemakers, which will highlight key areas of focus in artisan, farmstead, and specialty cheese production. This effort will result in a new and valuable resource for ACS members in their production of safe, high quality cheeses.     

On January 31, Regulatory & Academic Committee Chair Kate Arding presented on behalf of ACS at an FDA public comment session on foodborne illness source attribution in Washington DC. You can read the statement here.

Staying engaged with the regulatory process as the FSMA is implemented is just one of the ways your association is leading the charge for great American cheese!

Peace, Love & Cheese,

Christine Hyatt

ACS President 

Hone Your Leadership Skills:
Get Involved with ACS 

February 20th is President's Day, the perfect time to recognize ACS's past presidents for their service to the cheese industry. Through their efforts, ACS has achieved great things! Here are just a few of the accomplishments of our past five ACS Board Presidents:

Christine Hyatt (2011/12): Our current president envisioned and launched the first American Cheese Month in October 2011. The Certified Cheese Professional™ Exam will launch under her leadership this August. She also shepherded ACS through its first ever international conference in Montréal.

David Gremmels (2009/10): David oversaw an ambitious strategic plan, and spearheaded alliances and relationships to broaden the scope and influence of ACS. He led the association through many financial and operational challenges to become a self-managed organization with its own dedicated staff in Denver.

Allison Hooper (2006/7/8): For the organization's 25th anniversary, Allison created a collaborative framework to welcome and serve all industry professionals who further the work of cheesemakers, including retailers, mongers, distributors, writers, and educators. The American Cheese Education Foundation was formed under her tenure, and her focus on a strong ACS brand raised the visibility of the whole industry.

Jodie Wische (2005): Jodie focused on overall organizational structure with an eye to year-round sustainability by formalizing accounting standards, financial goals, by-laws, and administrative structure. She worked to grow ACS membership through outreach to guilds and like organizations.

Cathy Strange (2003/2004): Cathy helped ACS mature as an industry force, proactively planning for future growth by working with a full-time association management group. She focused on industry definitions, the Cheese of Choice Coalition, building supporting trade partnerships, and updating the ACS by-laws to create a more dynamic leadership structure with cheesemakers always at its core.

These visionary leaders laid strong foundations for the ACS you know today. Do you think you've got what it takes to make your mark on the industry? Nominations for ACS board service are now open -- learn more about Board Roles & Responsibilities, and consider nominating yourself or a colleague to run for office in 2012 by sending an email to nominations@cheesesociety.org. Who knows, some day you could be sporting "code name POACS!"*

Sincerely,

Nora Weiser

Executive Director 

*POACS (President of the American Cheese Society). Not to be confused with POTUS (President of the United States). Please note that service as POACS does not include use of a private Boeing VC-25.

ACS Announces Official Conference Cheesemongers

Alexander Kast, A Southern Season

 

Alexander and Rachel will serve as the lead volunteers in charge of all conference cheeses and donated product at the 2012 ACS Conference & Competition.  

  

Rachel Perez, Canyon Market

 

Learn more about Alexander and Rachel on our website. You can also find a job description for the Official Conference Cheesemonger position. If you are interested in applying for this prestigious role in 2013, we recommend that you contact ACS to schedule a time to shadow Alexander and Rachel in Raleigh.   

 

Congratulations to this year's team!  

 

 

Receive Assistance with the Cost of Attending ACS 2012: Scholarship Applications are Due March 30 

ACS, in conjunction with the American Cheese Education Foundation and the John Crompton Memorial Scholarship Fund, awards full and partial scholarships to cheesemakers, retailers, students, and local chefs to attend the ACS Conference & Competition. Recipients may receive a travel stipend, hotel accommodations in the conference host city, and a free conference registration.

Applications for 2012 scholarships will only be accepted through March 30, 2012, so be sure to complete your application soon in order to be considered! Scholarship recipients will be notified by April 30.  

• Cheesemaker Scholarship Application  
• Student Scholarship Application
• Chef Scholarship Application  
• John Crompton Memorial Scholarship for Retailers

News from the Judging & Competition Committee

As we roll into February, our weekly conference calls have been focused primarily on category review. This is always an interesting focus, as it typically brings up differences of opinion and larger topics of discussion. The committee doesn't anticipate major changes to categories in 2012, but there will be some fine-tuning.

As the competition grows, so do most of the categories. The committee diligently reviews each category to see where we've experienced growth or attrition. We look for current trends in the market to identify the need for new categories, while also looking for categories where there have been no entries, and we make adjustments accordingly. We understand that even though a category may only have a few entries, it can still be viable. In this case, we will monitor that particular category for a few years to gauge the trend and then reevaluate whether or not the category should remain on the list. This process can be fairly involved and may take several weeks. So, this is where we roll up our sleeves and get to work.

We'd also like to remind you that we are now only six months away from the 2012 Judging & Competition in Raleigh, and all entries must have been available for sale to the general public on or before January 1, 2012.

What does "available for sale to the general public" mean? It means a cheese must be available at a retail store, at a local farmers' market, via mail order, or online for consumers to purchase. We don't specify the scope of sale, production, or distribution. However, we do have some restrictions, and the cheeses listed below are excluded from the competition:

• A cheese that is a prototype, or is just being introduced into the market, and has not been available for sale for at least 6 months prior to competition.
• A cheese that can be purchased only by a restaurant, meaning that it's available only to restaurant guests.
• A cheese sold only at a non-public or trade-only market or event.
• A cheese sold only at a venue at which an admission fee is charged.

If you're not certain that a cheese you wish to enter meets these criteria, please do not hesitate to contact Todd Druhot, Chair of the Judging & Competition Committee, Michelle Lee, ACS Programs & Operations Director, for clarification.

In the coming weeks, our committee will begin working with the ACS Regulatory & Academic Committee to determine what documentation may be requested for entry into the competition this year. Please be on the lookout for future articles which will contain more detailed information, and entry dates/deadlines for 2012. 

We look forward to seeing your entries soon!  

Thanks,

Todd Druhot

Judging & Competition Committee Chair

Karen Silverston

Judging & Competition Committee Member 

Align Your Brand with the Best in the Industry: Become a 2012 Conference Sponsor!