2022 ACS Conference Recap

When you are young, it is so exciting to head off to camp to see your summertime friends.  Well, to those of us in the cheese community, we do not yearn for those memories as other people may, because we still go to camp every summer…..CHEESE CAMP, that is!

What is Cheese Camp? Well, in the cheese community it is the unofficial title for the American Cheese Society (ACS) Conference.  Before we talk about Conference, it is important to talk about ACS.  What exactly is ACS?  ACS is the leader in promoting and supporting American cheeses, providing the cheese industry with educational resources and networking opportunities, while encouraging the highest standards of cheesemaking focused on safety and sustainability.  What happens at the Conference?  It is the time we take as an industry to celebrate American cheese and American cheesemakers. This week is a curd nerd’s dream week but instead of campfires and s’mores, we attend seminars, award ceremonies and eat pounds and pounds of cheese.

So what did the “Blazing the Trail for Cheese” Conference look like for the Caves of Faribault crew?  During the days of conference, there are numerous seminars offered to educate makers, mongers, distributors, brokers, chefs and everyone else in between.  Experts in the field, who want to share their successes and failures in hopes of building a stronger American cheese community, host these seminars.  The subjects range from cheesemaking and cheese aging, to climate change, to building a better brand on social media.  The days put the “nerd” in “curd nerd.”

For the Caves of Faribault, it all starts out with an event we like to call the Cheese Crawl.  What is a Cheese Crawl?  Well, it is kind of like a bar crawl, but instead of venue hopping in the name of more beer, you venue hop in the name of more cheese!  We are one of the sponsors on the cheese crawl, and we pull out all the stops.  This year, we hosted one heck of a party at the lovely Cooper’s Hall, a stunning winery and urban taproom in Portland, OR.  Though the showstopper was the 24 ft grazing table we built, Stumptown DJs got the party started right and we polished the night off with a visit from the Fifty Licks ice cream truck for all of our guests to enjoy.  The Cheese Crawl is the official start to Conference and it gives us all the opportunity to connect with old friends, and make new ones.  It is a fabulous way to ease into the conference festivities.

Thursday night is THE night that cheesemakers have been waiting for!  Every year, cheesemakers from across North American enter cheeses into what ACS calls “Judging and Competition.”  J&C is held a few months prior to Conference every year in Minneapolis.  No one knows who wins until the Award Ceremony.  Cheesemakers and cheese fanatics all wait on edge to find out who will place top in their categories, and who ultimately will win the coveted title of “Best in Show.”  Caves of Faribault took home second place in the “External Rinded Blue Category” for our Felix Blue cheese!  We are honored by this win and proud of our team in Faribault!  Check out the press release to learn more about the competition, the entries and the winners.

The final day of the event gives us the chance to celebrate cheesemakers.  At “Meet the Cheesemaker,” over 100 cheesemakers set up tables piled high with cheese for mongers, distributors, buyers and all the other attendees to try.  It gives people the chance to high-five the winners, try their amazing cheeses and talk to all the cheesemaking superstars in our community.  Though business is being done, the vibe in the room is more like a party; it is the perfect way to round out the evening events at ACS.

Want to hear more about our team’s experience at Cheese Camp? See below!

“This was my 3^rd ACS conference and every year I am amazed by the community of cheesemakers, affineurs, and cheesemongers working together to show the world all of the wonderful cheeses that are made in the United States.  My favorite part of the conference is always Meet the Cheesemaker.  It is the opportunity to get to know the other cheesemakers and learn from each other and share our stories.  To top off the conference, our Caves of Faribault team won a 2^nd place award for our Rinded Felix.  It was my pleasure to accept this award for all of our dedicated and hardworking cheesemakers, affineurs and every employee in the plant that supports them to make our product such a success.”_Courtney, Interim Plant Manager

“Being my second time at ACS, my favorite part was the R&D session.  It was great to meet with potential buyers/mongers and get feedback on new products that I help create.  It was super helpful and a great way to meet people outside of cheesemakers.  I also loved the Cheese Crawl that we hosted.  It was so great hearing from people who love our cheese.  I loved introducing new people to our history and cheeses.  The most memorable thing to me was being there with a group of driven and dedicated women, watching as we received awards in a seemingly dominated male world.  It was super empowering and uplifting!”_Tara, Lead Affineur

“I look forward to attending the ACS Conference every year!  It’s the best time to catch up with all my friends in cheese, and make new ones!  As an ex-monger, I rarely get to cut tons of cheese anymore, so one of my highlights was building the grazing table with some talented mongers who came to help.  The other highlight was celebrating the Felix win with Courtney and Tara!  Not only is Felix an incredible cheese, but those two women, along with the rest of the Caves of Faribault Team, work exceptionally hard to make sure that every wheel is perfect!  In the past, American cheesemaking has been a male-dominated community.  Every year, we see more and more women makers and affineurs on that stage accepting awards, and being part of that change is huge!”_Erin, Sales Manager