Cheesemonger Invitational Hosts
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Founded in Chicago in 1988, Goose Island was one of first craft breweries in the Midwest and produces some of the most popular, and award winning, beers in the U.S. Since 1989, Goose Island beers have won a variety of awards at acclaimed beer events including the World Beer Championships, World Beer Cup, World Expo of Beer and the Great American Beer Festival (GABF).
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Since the mid-1800s, before Wisconsin was recognized as a state, the resident cheesemakers have been putting the art into artisan cheese – producing 47% of all specialty cheese made in the USA. Wisconsin is home to 1,200 licensed cheesemakers who draw from their rich European heritage and cheesemaking traditions, and combine it with incredible innovation to produce over 600 cheese varieties, types and styles. Wisconsin is the nation’s leader in the production of unique specialty and artisan cheeses including international award-winners, known as Wisconsin originals.
Jasper Hill Farm milks cows and makes cheese in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. The Cellars, an underground aging facility, maximizes the potential of cheeses made by Jasper Hill as well as those made by several other local producers. Leftover whey from the cheesemaking process is fed to heritage breed pigs along with organic veggies from Pete's Greens, and offered under the VT99 Meats label.
For 30 years, Vermont Creamery has combined the European tradition of cheesemaking with Vermont’s terroir. The Creamery’s line of fresh and aged goat cheese, cultured butter and crème fraîche has earned over 100 national and international awards. B Corp Certified in 2014, Vermont Creamery supports a network of 15 family farms and promotes sustainable agriculture through Ayers Brook Farm, the country’s first demonstration goat dairy.
We are third generation importers who work for innovative cheese makers trying to raise the flavor profile of traditional dairy cheeses. We look to source only best in class. Our school of thought is Maker to Monger. We are cheese for life.
Cowgirl Creamery cheeses are sold to over 500 stores, independent cheese shops, farmers markets and restaurants, and nationally through Whole Foods Markets. And true to their community ethos, Tomales Bay Foods continues to support and promote artisan cheesemaking, offering over 200 cheeses from all over California, America and Europe through their website and retail locations. Two decades, dozens of awards, two creameries, four retail stores and two thousand tons of cheese later, it’s safe to say they’ve earned their 10-gallon hats.
Essex Street Cheese Co. imports four cheeses and sells them directly to America’s finest cheesemongers and distributors. Comté from Fort St. Antoine, Gouda from L’amuse, Parmigiano-Reggiano from Cravero, Manchego from Sierra la Solana. Each cheese is specially selected for Essex at the source and shipped to spend minimal time in warehouse.
Fromage Gruyère S.A. is the only affineur still operating in the Swiss canton of Fribourg, the heart of Le Gruyère AOP. Our centennial company stands for aging cheese to the apex of quality, exclusively from production that respects heritage, tradition, quality, skill and nature. With these concerns in mind, we apply the designation of "1655" only to production that best reflects these standards.
We select, mature and sell farmhouse cheese from the UK and Ireland. We work with about 40 cheesemakers. We visit them regularly to taste their cheese with them and select the batches we want to mature and sell.
The essence of what we do has changed very little since our founding director Randolph Hodgson began seeking out farmhouse cheesemakers to supply our first shop in the early 1980’s. We believe that the time and energy we invest in understanding cheesemaking, selection and maturation gives us the necessary experience to source much of the best cheese available in the UK and Ireland.
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CHEESE CONNOISSEUR magazine is the authority on all things cheese. We provide our readers — sophisticated, well-educated foodies and industry professionals — with information about specialty cheeses, celebrity cheesemakers, chefs, wines, travel opportunities and complementary foods and beverages. Published by the award-winning publishers of PRODUCE BUSINESS and DELI BUSINESS magazines, CHEESE CONNOISSEUR has been turning heads since its inception in the winter of 2008.
Boska Holland is an innovative and authentic family company with a love of cheese that dates back to 1896; it’s always looking for new Cheesewares - accessories for cheese. Opt for our Cheesewares and you can expect to receive products that meet the highest professional standards. Quality and design are both very important here at Boska Holland, a fact that is borne out by the six Red Dot Design Awards we have won to date.
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Brooklyn Slate was founded in 2009 by a foodie and a design enthusiast.
Our rustic and minimalist serving boards feature slate's natural gray-black shade, highlighting the colors and textures of your cheeses the best. Based in Red Hook, Brooklyn, our slate is sourced from our third generation family quarry in the Slate Valley on the New York-Vermont border.
We are a small producer of high quality cured meats, with a specialty in dry-cured salami, based in New York City. We use only sustainably raised meat and hand harvested, solar evaporated sea salt. While our products are, no doubt, influenced by Southern European curing traditions, we are proud to be a part of the diverse and inspiring American gastronomic landscape. With this spirit in mind, we strive, one product at a time, to distinguish a style that is uniquely our own.
Cypress Grove is an artisan goat cheese company that cares deeply about its goats, dairy, and producing award-winning cheese. Known best for its flagship goat cheese, Humboldt Fog, Cypress Grove produces sensational cheeses across three distinct lines: soft-ripened, aged, and fresh. At Cypress Grove’s model dairy, the team goes to great lengths to ensure its goats are cared for properly and humanely. The iconic Humboldt County cheese producer was founded by Mary Keehn in 1983.
Elevation Charcuterie is a small batch salumi producer. We use the best spices and ingredients we can find to create the best product possible. Our salumi is made with Berkshire pork and American Wagyu beef from farmers that are sustainable and have humane treatment of the animals. We use old techniques with slow fermentation to keep the quality, while creating our own versions of classics, as well as some new flavors unique to Elevation.
At Girl Meets Dirt, we offer handmade preserves from heritage, heirloom fruits grown in the San Juan Islands, classically crafted with just enough fair trade organic cane sugar, and herbs handpicked from our kitchen gardens.
The legacy and bounty of the orchard fruit on these islands and their capacity to feed this community for over 135 years is our inspiration. To keep the agricultural history of the San Juan Islands alive and support the orchard economy, we have stewardship arrangements with island growers, giving us access to the most deeply-rooted trees and a depth of taste not found in commercially-grown fruits.
Gourmino belongs to the cheesemakers. Our skills lie in the affinage of long ripened cheeses made from raw milk. We use only the best quality cheeses selected from our own dairies.
Our dairies are family businesses that use fresh milk supplied daily by local farmers. The cheese makers not only care passionately about their craft, they also have the necessary experience spanning years of excellent work and life in cheese.
The sale of our products provides an inspiration for the future of our cheese makers and their families.
All our work together embodies the highest representation of Swiss cheesemaking.
Isigny Sainte-Mère is a cooperative company founded in 1932. Today, the company has as many as 600 farmers, producing the highest quality milk to make premier quality cheese (Mimolette, Brie, Camembert, Pont L'Évêque) and dairy products as our "grand cru" AOP butter. Thanks to its "terroir", all the products made by Isigny Sainte-Mère are traditional to Normandy, and made with all natural grass fed cow's milk.
We're on a mission to change the way you think about jam.
At Jamnation we use only local, organic fruit from family farms within 200 miles. Our jams have up to 50% more fruit and up to 50% less added sugar with no added pectin or preservatives. The result? The most intensely fruity jam you’ve ever tasted.
Each flavor uses globally inspired florals, herbs + spices to create a unique combination with a focus on sourcing, sustainability, and the pursuit of great flavors. More fruit. Less sugar. Damn good jam.
We use as much local produce as possible when it is in season and when it's not, we call up the farms and speak directly with the growers to know where our produce is coming from and how it is being grown making sure we are getting some of the best, freshest produce available. Every jar is hand packed by one of our talented team members. We’re happy that after so many years, we can bring our family recipe, to yours.
Our products are all-natural, gluten-free (pickles, relish, bloody mary, all-natural chips, brine), and kosher certified (Michigan Kosher Supervisors, OU).
Mundig is cheese makers still put their hands into the curd, where farmers bring the fresh milk to the dairy twice a day, where working days are long and distances are short, there where the hills start to rise, the winter lasts long and in the summer the meadows are scattered with all kind of herbs, where people still speak their own language which even Swiss struggle to understand – those are the places, where Mundig is seeking for the best and tasty cheese in Switzerland.
Nettle Meadow is committed to the principles of natural ingredients, happy and healthy animals, and carefully hand-crafted artisan cheeses. We make several varieties of soft goat cheeses and are well known for our mixed milk and semi-aged cheeses, including our award winning triple.
Quince & Apple is a small food company of passionate makers in Madison, Wisconsin. We handcraft artisan preserves to pair with the best cheeses and simple syrups to mix with craft spirits. Everything we make is all natural, fruit forward with unique accents and done in house with love.
Red Table Meat Co. promises integrity you can taste. Rooted in local farms and grounded in Northeast Minneapolis, “No Surrender” is the maxim that guides this small company. Red Table buys whole pigs from small, sustainable farms and collaborates with farmers to honor the pig from farrow and feed to humane slaughter. With unmatched freshness and exceptional quality in each bite, a studied craft results in a subtle and refined salumi that is immensely shareable. Red Table promises, simply: Good Meat Here.
Founded in 1933, Rogue Creamery has been a leader in the world of handcrafted cheese for decades. Their organic blue and cheddar cheeses embrace the wild spirit of Southern Oregon’s Rogue River Valley, striking a balance between old world traditions and the flavors of the Pacific Northwest. Rogue Creamery’s products have been honored with dozens of awards over the years, most notably for their organic Rogue River Blue: awarded World’s Best Blue Cheese in 2003, back-to-back American Cheese Society Best of Show wins in 2009 and 2011, and Gold in the Cheese – Cow’s Milk category at the 2018 Sofi Awards. In addition, as Oregon’s first Public Benefit (“B”) Company and a 2018 “Best for the World” B Corporation, Rogue Creamery is using business – and in their case, cheese – as a force for good in their community and environment. Rogue Creamery: People dedicated to sustainability, service, and the art and tradition of creating the world’s finest handmade cheese
Savencia Cheese USA is a subsidiary of French cheese specialist Savencia Fromage & Dairy, a family operated company that has been producing quality, high-end specialty cheeses since 1956 when it created its first original cheese, Caprice de Dieux. Producing both domestically and in France, Savencia boasts an award-winning portfolio that includes recognizable favorites like Dorothy’s, Maroilles, Montagnard, Saint Andre, Saint Agur and the 2018 World Champion Esquirrou. We are committed to leading the way to better food.
Founded in 1909 as a farmer-owned cooperative, the Tillamook County Creamery Association (TCCA) prides itself on its commitment and mission to connect farmers and food lovers through better made dairy products. Guided by the belief that everyone deserves real food that makes them feel good every day, Tillamook has earned more than 750 awards for their cheese, ice cream, sour cream, butter and yogurt products made with unwavering values that never sacrifice or compromise quality for profit. The TCCA is currently made up of nearly 90 farming families, primarily based in Tillamook County, Oregon.
From our base in Britain we travel the world to find authentic, delicious food that’s guaranteed free of nasty chemicals and grown by local farmers we know and trust. That’s been our approach since we started out in 2008 with just a small range of olives and a big dream. Of course finding great new ingredients isn’t easy, but our promise is to #keepdiscovering and it’s one we take very seriously.