09/11/2025
We're thrilled to announce our in-person, all day Vermont Cheese Council Autumn Conference. This is going to be an action-packed full day of learning at beautiful Billings Farm & Museum.
Conference Topics Include:
โ๏ธ A two-part Sensory Evaluation workshop to gain (or provide) peer-to-peer preference insight, then a second afternoon session to review how to generate and analyze data to build an internal program that measures progress towards a goal.
โ๏ธ A (Culture) Cocktail Hour exploring advantages and risks of three different cheeses with vastly different culture preparations. From a highly controlled model that exclusively relies on commercial inputs, to a raw & wild traditional process, with a final hybrid approach that lands somewhere in-betweenโweโll look at key decisions that will guide culture selection for a new or developing cheese.
โ๏ธ Supply Chain & Product Development Roundtable to understand preferences and opportunities within a broader market. This round-table taps expertise from mid-supply-chain professionals, who can help inform a communication strategy around new products.
โ๏ธ Minerals in Making, Functionality, and Quality Presentation synthesizing the most current understanding of milk and cheese mineral chemistry to guide an understanding of the impact of minerals on the cheesemaking process and the role that minerals play in developing important cheese characteristics such as pliability, melt, and stretch.
Speakers Include:
โญ Zoe Brickley, Jasper Hill Farm
โญ Andy Johnson, Dairy Connection Inc
โญ Olivier Laurin, Rheolution
โญ Dr. Gil Tansman, dsm-firmenich
โญ Gina Accorsi, Cabot Creamery Cooperative /Agrimark
โญ Olivia Haver, von Trapp Farmstead Cheese
Tickets are $125 each, with limited capacity. View the more detailed session descriptions, speaker lineup, and register your seat at vtcheese.com/autumn2025. Because of the nature of these sessions, we are not offering a virtual attendance option at this time.
VCC Members and members of reciprocal cheese guilds (California Artisan Cheese Guild, The Maine Cheese Guild, League of Minnesota Cheesemakers, NYS Cheese Manufacturers' Association, Ohio Cheese Guild, Oregon Cheese Guild, Pennsylvania Cheese Guild, Washington State Cheesemakers Association, and Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association), you have discount codes coming through your leadership soon, but you can also just email [email protected] for yours directly! ๐
American Cheese Society, Vermont Specialty Food Association, Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont, Vermont Farm to Plate, Vermont Fresh Network, and Vermont Food Co-operative Employees: please reach out to [email protected] for your discount code!
Our Autumn Conference was made possible in part by the Dairy's Foundation and the Northeast Agricultural Education Foundation.
A huge thank you to our Gold Sponsor, Dairy Connection Inc, and our wonderful silver sponsors AFCO Food and Beverage, Frazer Insurance Agency, Inc., McGill Hose & Coupling, Inc., and Rheolution.
And as always, a round of applause to our season underwriting sponsors: Cabot Creamery Cooperative, Jasper Hill Farm, and Vermont Creamery.
๐ธ Photography Credit: Jessica Sipe
๐ง Cheese Credit: Suzy Kaplan at Fat Sheep Farm & Cabins.
