Awards for Local Cheeses
At National Conference
By Sandy Vondrasek Cooch
Several cheese makers from Central Vermont, including Neighborly Farms of Randolph Center, were awarded top awards for their products at the annual conference of the American Cheese Society.

The conference, titled "Achieving Sustainability," was held in Burlington in early August. Burlington was selected as the location for this year's event because of the impressive number of cheese producers found in the state and the New England region.

The conference brought together cheese producers and enthusiasts, marketing and distribution specialists, food writers, and retailers from the U.S., Canada, and Europe. Events included a national cheese competition, educational seminars, a cheese cook-off; and "guest cheesemaker" dinners at restaurants in the Burlington area.

"We were honored to have the American Cheese Society conference here in Vermont," said Jon Wright, president of the Vermont Cheese Council. "There were a record number of entries and Vermont won an unprecedented number of awards.

"This was the largest cheese competition in the United States," Wright added. "There were 1208 entries, with 200 cheese makers represented."

Twenty-eight of those cheese makers were from Vermont, and Vermonters took home 41 awards including 10 first-place ribbons.

Cabot Creamery led Vermont producers with 11 ribbons, including four first-place entries. Vermont Butter & Cheese of Websterville, which was co-founded by Allison Hooper of Brookfield, won seven ribbons overall.

Area cheese makers with prize-winning products included:

Neighborly Farms of Randolph Center, whose "Organic Colby" won a first-place ribbon;

Thistle Hill Farm, North Pomfret, which was awarded second place for its Tarentaise, a farmstead cheese, aged more than 90 days;

Vermont Butter & Cheese Company of Websterville, whose Vermont Fresh Crottin was a first-place winner in the fresh goat's milk cheese category. Vermont Butter & Cheese took second-place ribbons for its "Roasted Red Pepper Creamery Goat Cheese"; its Crème Fraiche, a cultured milk product; its unsalted butter; and its "Vermont Bijou," an aged goat's milk cheese.

The Websterville cheese plant also placed third with its "Vermont Quark," a cultured milk product, and its lightly salted cultured butter.

Woodstock Water Buffalo Company, in South Woodstock, took home a first-place ribbon for its "Buffalo Mozzarella- Ovalini," in the fresh mozzarella category.

A release from Woodstock Water Buffalo Company notes that its Italian-trained cheese makers use traditional Italian cheese-making techniques and 100% water buffalo milk to make its mozzarella.

"Authentic mozzarella in Italy is always made with water buffalo milk. We are one of only two water buffalo dairies in the United States. It is this premium milk that gives our cheese its unmatched taste and texture," said Ellyn Ladd, cheese maker and operations director of Woodstock Water Buffalo Company.

Hooper Re-Elected

Also at the conference, Allison Hooper was re-elected president of the American Cheese Society, making her the first three-term president in the Society's history.

"I'm honored to be elected for a third term," said Hooper. "It's exciting to see the extraordinary growth that's taking place in the artisan cheese industry in the United States."

Founded in 1982, the American Cheese Society (ACS) is the premier platform for cheese industry research and education in America. Among other things, the organization works with the federal government on issues such as standards in the production of cheese and fermented dairy products.