Blog
Certification, education, advocacy, events, industry news and the members behind them — written by the Federation, for the people who make, age, sell and buy the cheese.
A cheese case that can't agree with itself
Retail cheese sales are running hot while restaurant orders vanish overnight, and the futures board can't decide which number to believe.
Read postThe shop that canceled its own tasting
A member-owned cheese shop pulled its own monthly tasting event this week before anyone told them to. We asked the counter manager what made the call.
Read postWhat a stricter cleaning schedule actually costs you
With illness moving through communities this spring, members are tightening cleaning schedules. Here's what actually changes on a make sheet when you do it right.
Read postA futures board that can't agree with itself
Dairy futures swung hard again this morning, and members are asking what a market this jumpy actually means for a spring pricing decision.
Read postThe distributor watching two calendars
A regional cheese distributor on juggling spring wholesale orders against early supply-chain jitters, and why she's telling small producers to overcommunicate right now.
Read postThe paperwork that crosses a state line
A proposal to change how states recognize each other's interstate dairy shipping approvals is drawing attention from small creameries who ship across state lines. Here's the plan and…
Read postSave the date for Portland
The 2020 ICF Annual Conference is set for July in Portland, and the call for session proposals opens this week. Here's what the program committee is looking for.
Read postThe clerk who started asking why
A cheese-counter clerk who kept getting asked questions she couldn't answer decided to work through the Certified Cheesemonger credential. Two exams in, she told us what changed.
Read postA May workshop for a small corner of the case
Registration is open for our late-May workshop on goat and sheep milk cheesemaking, a small but growing corner of the specialty case that most members haven't formally trained…
Read post