The 2026 Hot List: Jan Kos & Julien Kos
This interview is part of culture’s 2026 Hot List. Click here to learn more about our selection process and to see the latest Hot List class. Jan Kos & Julien Kos Founder, Owner & President / Vice President, Cheeseland Washington Jan Kos has spent more than four decades helping shape how Americans experience European cheese—starting with […]
The 2026 Hot List: Sam Schad
This interview is part of culture’s 2026 Hot List. Click here to learn more about our selection process and to see the latest Hot List class. Sam Schad President, Capriole Indiana Sam Schad grew up surrounded by cheese, but it took time for him to see it as his own path. As the grandson of Capriole […]
The 2026 Hot List: Josh Turka
This interview is part of culture’s 2026 Hot List. Click here to learn more about our selection process and to see the latest Hot List class. Josh Turka Owner, 5th Quarter Butcher + Provisions Vermont For Josh Turka, everything comes back to a single idea: honoring the whole animal. After more than a decade working in […]
The 2026 Hot List: Carrie S.
This interview is part of culture’s 2026 Hot List. Click here to learn more about our selection process and to see the latest Hot List class. Carrie S. Owner & Operator, @justiceofthecheese California Carrie S. isn’t interested in keeping cheese in its usual places. A cheesemonger, educator, mutual aid organizer, and self-described “cheese clown,” they built […]
The 2026 Hot List: Alex Armstrong, ACS CCP
Alex Armstrong has built a career that moves fluidly across the many worlds of cheese. From milking goats and making farmstead cheese to working as a monger, educator, sensory evaluator, and importer, his path has been anything but linear—and that’s exactly the point.
Over the past 14 years, Armstrong has developed a holistic understanding of cheese that spans production, distribution, and evaluation. His time at Jasper Hill Farm, where he worked across roles including sensory evaluation and research and development, helped shape a perspective rooted in science and experience. As a recipient of the Daphne Zepos Teaching Award, he brought that perspective to Europe, studying sensory evaluation and sharing his findings with the broader industry.
Today, Armstrong approaches cheese not just as a product, but as a framework for understanding people, place, and culture—and one that continues to evolve with each bite.
The 2026 Hot List: Mary Ann Ferrer, ACS CCP
This interview is part of culture’s 2026 Hot List. Click here to learn more about our selection process and to see the latest Hot List class. Dr. Mary Ann Ferrer, ACS CCP Dairy Programs Manager, University of Guelph Department of Food Science Ontario, Canada Dr. Mary Ann Ferrer’s work operates at an intersection of science and […]
The 2026 Hot List: Rufus Musser
This interview is part of culture’s 2026 Hot List. Click here to learn more about our selection process and to see the latest Hot List class. Rufus Musser Co-Owner, Milton Creamery Iowa Rufus Musser IV’s path to cheese has always been driven by people as much as milk. After growing up in Pennsylvania working farmers’ markets […]
The 2026 Hot List: Audrey Stange, ACS CCP
This interview is part of culture’s 2026 Hot List. Click here to learn more about our selection process and to see the latest Hot List class. Audrey Stange, ACS CCP Ambassador of Moo, Rogue CreameryOregon For Audrey Stange, what began as a role on the specialty team at Whole Foods quickly turned into a full-blown obsession—one […]
The 2026 Hot List: Jill Allen, ACS CCP
This interview is part of culture’s 2026 Hot List. Click here to learn more about our selection process and to see the latest Hot List class. Jill Allen, ACS CCP Research & Development Director, Cheese & Product Excellence, Tillamook County Creamery Association Oregon Jill Allen has spent more than two decades developing an extraordinary fluency in […]
The 2026 Hot List: Brian Civitello
This interview is part of culture’s 2026 Hot List. Click here to learn more about our selection process and to see the latest Hot List class. Brian Civitello Lysis Persuader & Founder, Mystic Cheese Company Connecticut Brian Civitello is chasing something most cheesemakers spend a lifetime trying to define: the moment when everything in a cheese […]
