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.
The apprentice who built her own tasting panel
An affinage apprentice couldn't find an in-person tasting group last year, so she started a weekly video call with four other members instead. It's still running.
Read postThe shipment rule nobody quite agrees on
State rules on shipping cheese across a border haven't caught up with how many members now sell direct. A comment period is open, and we want your shipment…
Read postThe credential that asks you to know everything
Certified Cheese Professional is the broadest credential we offer, and members keep telling us the studying matters more than the letters after their name. Here's what the exam…
Read postA tariff pause, and what it buys you
A four-month suspension of a set of dairy tariffs tied to an aircraft-subsidy dispute takes some of the sting out of imported cheese for buyers, and some of…
Read postThe farmers' market webinar worth clearing your calendar for
Farmers' Market Sales 2021 is a free webinar on April 21 built for members deciding whether to keep the direct-to-consumer habits they picked up last year. Here's what…
Read postThe exemption you still have to prove
Small-producer exemptions under federal food-safety rules aren't automatic. A member walked us through what it actually takes to keep one on file, and why that paperwork matters.
Read postA Class III number worth a second look
Class III settled in the mid-teens this month, and the number that matters more for most members is what it does to the feed-cost side of the margin,…
Read postThe creamery rewriting its own label copy
A three-person farmstead creamery spent the winter turning what its owner used to say across the counter into a page a stranger could read alone. This week she…
Read postThe course that begins with your own story
Storytelling & Provenance in Marketing opened its newest cohort this week. Here's what the course actually asks members to build, and why it matters more without a counter…
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