The 2020 Winter Cheesemonger Invitational took place in San Francisco a few weeks ago, where some of the best mongers from across the country competed in a day-long crash course in all things cheese, charcuterie, and mongering. A week later, our Editor-in-Chief wrote about her firsthand account of the event. Read it here, or check out the snazzy video crafted by our Creative Director.
In other cheese news:
- The California Artisan Cheese Guild recently elected their new president. Felice Thorpe Charlton, a California native and former National Sales Director at Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company, has strong ties to the local agricultural industry and says she’s looking forward to her new leadership role at the CACG.
- Airplane food is the worst. Hence why cheese influencer Marissa Mullen, the face behind @thatcheeseplate, took it upon herself to ditch those soggy pre-made dinners and make a beautiful charcuterie spread—while sitting in economy class. And of course, shared all of this with Instagram. We’re beyond impressed.
- The World Champion Cheese Contest just made history. Organizers announced there have been a record-breaking amount of entries for this year’s competition: 3,667, which is hundreds more than the last competition in 2018. Cheesemakers from 26 countries and 36 US states will be judged March 3rd through 5th in Madison, Wisconsin, for the most exciting contest yet.
- A man was recently arrested in Washington after living in a grocery store for weeks and stealing food and cigarettes. Among his stolen goods? A whopping $400 worth of Beecher’s cheese. The precious cargo has since been donated to a local food bank.
- An update in non-dairy news: US Senators on both sides of the political aisle are pushing the FDA to ban the description of plant-based products as milk, cheese, and yogurt. They cited the hardworking members of the dairy industry in their efforts to ensure only genuine dairy products can be labeled as such.