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 price spike and a pullback
Butter and cheddar prices spiked hard in early January and then gave a chunk of it back. Here's what that whiplash means for the price sheet you're printing…
Read postWhat your holiday margin actually showed
Now that the holiday numbers are in, Pricing & Margin for Specialty Cheese is the course several members are pointing to as the one they wish they'd taken…
Read postThe quality manager covering two shifts
A quality manager at a mid-sized creamery has spent years building its food-safety program. This month she's also been running the floor, and she told us what she…
Read postThe shortage behind the empty case
A winter wave of illness is thinning retail staff nationwide, and specialty cheese counters are feeling it in scheduling and case coverage, not just delivery delays.
Read postGet ready for the export readiness workshop
Workshop: Valley Export Readiness lands in Seattle on February 1. Here is what the day covers and what to bring if you are shipping outside the country for…
Read postThe apprentice who spent January on the phone
A second-year apprentice at a Midwest creamery spent her holiday break calling wholesale accounts that had gone quiet. Here's what she learned about the accounts, and about herself.
Read postA jumpy market to start the year
Cheese and butter prices opened 2022 strong, but staffing gaps from the winter's case surge are the bigger story on the production floor this week.
Read postThe membership she almost didn't renew
A small-batch cheesemaker nearly let her membership lapse at the worst possible moment. Renewing it instead is the reason her cave is still running today.
Read postThe credential worth starting in January
If a New Year's resolution is the only reason you'd finally start a credential, the Certified Cheesemonger track is built to survive that kind of motivation.
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