The ICF Annual Conference closed out in Asheville a week ago, and if your inbox looks anything like ours, you're still working through the follow-up emails, the business cards you meant to sort on the drive home, and the samples someone talked you into hauling back in a cooler. Before that pile gets any bigger, here's a recap of what actually happened on the floor and in the competition hall.
By the numbers, this was one of the busier conferences we've run since the return to in-person events: a full exhibit floor, sessions running at capacity on the affinage and food-safety tracks in particular, and a competition table that judges told us took longer to settle than in past years — a good problem, since it means more entries worth arguing over.
What won
Two golds anchored the results this year. A washed and aged wheel called Old Winterfen took the top spot in Blue Veined, and Old Alderwick, an alpine-style entry, took gold in its category as well. Briarholt Clothbound picked up silver in Aged Cheddar & Territorials, and bronzes went to Orchardmere Blue in Blue Veined and Thistlemere Wheel in Fresh & Pasta Filata. If your creamery entered and didn't place this year, the judges' written feedback is worth requesting directly — several members have told us it's more useful than the ribbon itself.
Beyond the ribbons, the thing we heard most from first-time attendees this year was relief that the conference wasn't as overwhelming as they'd feared. A lot of that seems to come down to picking two or three things to focus on rather than trying to see the whole floor, which several returning members had recommended in the run-up to the event.
What to do with a week of notes
If you came home with a notebook full of half-finished thoughts, now is the window to act on them while the sessions are still fresh. A few threads worth following up on directly:
- If you talked to a supplier about a packaging or shelving problem, follow up this week rather than letting the business card sit in a drawer until fall.
- If a session left you wanting a formal credential rather than just notes, the Education Committee's table took names for the fall Sensory Evaluation Certificate and Advanced Affinage Certificate cohorts, and both are still open for late registration.
- If you tasted something at a competitor's table that changed how you think about your own wheel, write that down now. It's the kind of note that reads as obvious in July and unrecoverable by October.
We'll have full session recordings posted to the member portal by the end of the month for anyone who had to choose between two tracks running at the same time — a problem every conference schedule has and no conference schedule solves. In the meantime, thank you to everyone who came out, judged, poured, and hauled coolers of cheese across state lines to make the week work. Next year's dates and city will go out to members first, before the general announcement.
The International Cheese Federation (ICF) and More Cheese are entirely fictional. This post is demonstration content created for MemberJunction. All people, organizations, events, courses, certifications, figures, and quotations in it are invented, and nothing here represents a real association, a real business, a real person, or real professional advice.