Ahh, the American Cheese Society Conference. The main event for all things cheesy, and host to the industry’s yearly family reunion. Come one, come all – cheesemakers, distributors, retailers, cheese professionals, and cheese enthusiasts.
Over the course of three days there’s a lot that happens – educational sessions, the introduction of new products, networking, the constant discovery of new creameries, and, the highly anticipated competition where the best cheeses in America are awarded! Each event is met with camaraderie and a general sense of support and encouragement from fellow makers and industry professionals. Matt Curl with GFI spoke at the awards ceremony, where he hit the nail on the head. He said that this industry is unlike any other – we don’t compete with one another to see the other party fail, but rather use each other as incentive to better ourselves and our cheese. We cheer each other on when we’re succeeding, and aren’t afraid to offer assistance when we may be struggling. As an industry with countless hurdles, we thrive when we are a united front.
In the midst of the American Cheese Movement, we have the wind in our sails and are commanding respect on the international playing field, and on the home front have the American cheese consumer becoming more educated and well-versed. As a consumer myself I am always baffled at the number of cheeses, flavors, textures, and appearances you can get out of three simple ingredients: milk, cultures, and enzymes. There are thousands of different cheeses, with new ones being added almost daily. Today’s consumer is looking for the newest flavors, yet still requiring those irreplaceable classics. As I walked the Meet the Cheesemaker and Festival of Cheeses events, I am amazed at how we’ve risen to the challenge. There is an abundance of trendy flavors, with tradition always within sight.
With so many events and sessions, I will try to summarize the highlights of my conference experience:
Day 1:
I attended the Dairy Milk vs. Non Dairy session. One word: wow. Okay, I have another word, too: love! And maybe just two more: so educational! This was probably my favorite session that I’ve attended in the three years I’ve gone to ACS. It was factual, interesting, and not to be punny, but had very digestible information. The presentation went on to outline nutritional and sustainability perceptions, as well as the nutritional bioavailability and sustainability of dairy vs. non dairy. The unbiased synopsis of what consumers think was welcomed information. It was encouraging to know that although plant-based diets are a reality in today’s world (just because I am pro-dairy, does not mean I think those should go away, hey I put almond milk in my smoothies, too!), dairy still supersedes the market. The opportunity is ours to educate consumers on the health and sustainability of dairy. One of my biggest takeaways on where consumer education is most needed, is on the understanding of bioavailability of key nutrients (calcium and protein being two of the biggest). This could be an entire post in itself, maybe one day, but for now I encourage you to do a little research on your own! You may be surprised at what the nutritional label says, and what this translates to for your body. Overall, this was absolutely interesting, and if you hear me talking about bioavailability and dairy’s superiority, sorry?
Next on the docket was Meet the Cheesemaker. This is always a fun event, because cheese companies showcase their newest and best cheeses, while attendees (retailers, distributors, and cheese professionals) walk around to taste and discover. We sampled our new Redwood Coast cheeses, and I found myself smiling from ear to ear as the feedback was overwhelming positive. The Redwood Coast line is my baby, and no mother wants to hear her kid is ugly. Thank goodness I’ve got a cutie for a line! (Shameless plug, be on the lookout for our new varieties!) This is also a great opportunity to touch base with key retailers, and hopefully get some traction and interest on products. Each year I do a little wandering myself and love the opportunity to taste new cheeses and creameries. I often leave having found new favorites and obsessions. The cheesemaker I was most excited about “finding” this year was Tulip Tree Creamery. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, you stinky wash-rind cheeses have my heart…
Day 2:
I attended the session about mold. Yes, mold. Good mold! Important mold! Is it weird that mold is so critical, loved, and fondly discussed in a food product? In comparison to the dairy vs. non dairy session, this one was harder to pull tangible/usable information from. This is due to a lot of reasons, none at the fault of the adorable researcher leading the session. At Rumiano we make semi soft cheeses, not blues or soft-ripened cheeses, so in our world mold is usually a defect not an integral player. Regardless, it was fascinating to learn about the different types of mold and the subsequent results. If you’re interested in fermented foods and the world of microbial things, check out MicrobialFoods.org. The leader of this session works for the lab that supports this site. I took a quick look at it and am excited to dig in and read up on my, um, molds and things.
In place of the afternoon session we went on a bike tour of Church Hill. I don’t often win things, but oddly enough, won a business card raffle for a bike tour of Richmond. This was a casual ride around Church Hill, but it is always nice to spend time outside learning about a new city. I find it important to try and gain some cultural history or experience when visiting different places across the country. While I wish we could have hit some museums, too, I appreciated this chance to learn a little about Richmond. It certainly brought to life my lack of historical knowledge, something I’ll have to work on! Maybe another trip to Richmond…?
Rounding out Day 2 was the much anticipated Awards Ceremony. If you could walk into a room and feel smiles, happiness, and laughter, that would be how the ACS Awards Ceremony would be described. Again, this is where you’ll see support and genuine happiness for other’s success. We found our seats in the California section, grabbed a California flag, and settled in for the announcement of winners in about 90 subcategories. With approximately 1,700 entries, you can imagine this could get a little long. But, they keep a good pace and rattle off those challenging cheese names (being a fast and loud talker, even I’m impressed at the emcees’ skill). I love the California group. Each time a California cheesemaker wins an award, you hear an overwhelming chorus of woo-hoos, and those California flags take flight whipping through the air. Outside of California, we all have our favorite cheesemakers and companies, who we like to cheer loudly for. Being a company that not only makes and processes our cheese, but also packages cheese for other companies, I feel as proud watching our partners win as I do when we take a medal. This year we took a blue ribbon with our Dry Jack. If you look up my Birthday Cheeseboard post, you’ll find where I go into more detail about this particular cheese. It was a true honor to take first in this category, as it is our flagship item (the first cheese produced by Rumiano) and our 100th year in business.
Day 3:
Oh Day 3, I’m still feeling you. I got up early and headed down to the James River for the Cheeseletes 5K. I’ve said it once (okay more than that, but I’ll say it again anyway), this industry is awesome. It gives you a true sense of community and inclusiveness. I was nervously standing outside the hotel trying to figure out whether I should walk or Uber to the starting line, and where that was, when a couple people walked out the front doors of the hotel, saw me, asked if I’d already called an Uber, and when I said no, they invited me to hop in! They said they were headed to the race, and that I could hitch a ride with them. Um, thank you! My momma said not to ride with strangers, but one cheese-y to another, I think I’m safe. It felt nice to be included and not show up totally alone (and hey, new friends!). After some punny announcements and jokes, the race got started. Mind you I ran a half marathon in May and haven’t run much since. I’ll be honest, it was a little rough. I wanted to walk, but my conscience wouldn’t let me (thank you, you obnoxious conscience!). Humidity is a real beast if you’re not used to it, but running over and along such a beautiful river can almost make you forget about it. I thoroughly enjoyed my run and it felt good to get the blood pumping! Almost as good as the run’s theme – Brieyonce – was the costumes and outfits that were donned at the event. My personal favorite was the group in white spandex suits and floaties, aka sperm, in honor of the Heritage Breed Diversity Group. Creativity and confidence is at the core of this industry.
After a quick shower, we headed over to set up for the Festival of Cheeses. Remember when I said there were about 90 subcategories and 1,700 entries? Well almost all of those entries get cut, plated, and staged on one of 13 cheeseboards for everyone to taste. We got started at about 10 am, and didn’t pick our heads up until about 4:30 pm. And we didn’t even stay for the finishing touches! Needless to say, a long day of prep. I had the chance to use the wire cutter and play around with different cheeses, learning how to cut them as we went. This is a whole other side to the industry that I am poorly educated on. There are so many cheeses and specifics, it’s hard to learn them all! But I’m getting there, and it was fun. I got to let my creativity flow as we worked on our table. I loved that our “Table Captain” called me his Art Director and let me run with my ideas… We came back later and walked the finished room. It’s amazing to see so many cheeses, and great cheeses, in one place. I overate discovering new favorites and tasting old favorites, but loved every bite (except when you don’t read the description and pop a big chunk of goat’s milk cheese into your mouth…).
Each year I walk away from the ACS Conference with more knowledge, deeper connections, and a greater appreciation for this industry I call home. It is a true honor and pleasure to be able to represent such a great company and experience new cities, taste new foods, and learn more about this fascinating industry where everyone has a voice.
Cheers.
Beer in a Martini World 