Vermont Cheese Council

We're only a few days away from our winter and spring educational opportunities - and they're filling up fast, so don't wait to register! ?? Artisan Cheesemakers Winter Conference 2025 ?? Feb 25-26 ? vtcheese.com/conference Featuring Sensory Analysis with Roy Deroschers and the Art of Affinage with Eric Meredith ?? Business Miniversity Cohort 2025 ?? Wednesdays, Mar 5-April 30 ? vtcheese.com/bmini Covering leadership, management, finances and margins, strategy, marketing, and more, specially designed for cheesemakers, farmers, and food producers ??? Discounts are available for VCC Members and partners, as well as other Cheese Guilds and Councils - email us at education@vtcheese.com with any questions! And a huge thank you to: ?? American Cheese Society, Dairy Connection Inc, Jasper Hill Farm, Mascoma Bank, New England Dairy, and McLure Packaging Systems & Supplies for their Winter Conference Support ?? Dairy Connection Inc, Farm Credit Northeast AgEnhancement, Mascoma Bank, Organic Valley, Passumpsic Bank, and the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund for their Business Miniversity Support ?? Cabot Creamery Cooperative and Vermont Creamery for their generous seasonal sponsor support. We couldn't do it without you! #vtcheese #cheesemaker #cheesemonger #cheeseshop #cheeseeducation #acwc2025 #cheeseplease

There's still time to join our 2025 Business Miniversity cohort! ?? Sessions are tailored to food producers + specialty food retail, hitting on leadership, finances and margins, personnel, grant writing, tech tools, marketing, and more. Our cohort is small by design, with conversations and Q&A in every session. And sessions are recorded, so you can watch ones you can’t make! Here's the incredible team of presenters we have lined up: ?? Attract, Engage, Retail: Make Every Hire Count?with Grant Prezlow of?Wholestone Farms ?? Understanding Financial Statements?with Elisa Clancy of?University of Vermont Extension ?? Quality & Culture: Simple Leadership Practices for Team Success?with Amy Beth Kessinger of?Community College of Vermont ?? Fundamentals of Grant Writing?with Rose Wilson of?ROSE WILSON CONSULTING LLC ?? Branding: Selling Your Product Through Story?with Daniel?Prial of Prial Outreach Consulting ?? Tools for Strategic Business Planning?with Elisa Clancy of?University of Vermont Extension ?? Specialty Food Websites: Optimizing the User Experience (and Yours!)?with Ashley Sandy of?LONDONmiddlebury ?? Managing and Calculating Margins through a Specialty Supply Chain?with Zoe Brickley of?Jasper Hill Farm ?? Beyond the Label: Discover 6 Ways to Craft Packaging That Sells?with Steve Crafts and Michael Adams of?Place Creative Company ?? Visit us at vtcheese.com/bmini for more information, or email us at education@vtcheese.com. ??? Pricing: $100 for the series. (That's less than $8 per hour of education!) ?? Discounts: VCC and Guild Members in California, Maine, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Wisconsin all receive 20% off! Reach out to your leadership for your promo code, or to education@vtcheese.com with proof of your guild membership. ?? The Vermont Cheese Council is a nonprofit organization who couldn't produce this programming without our community. A huge thank you to Dairy Connection Inc, Farm Credit East, ACA Northeast AgEnhancement, Mascoma Bank, Passumpsic Bank, and the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund for their Business Miniversity sponsorship, and to Cabot Creamery Cooperative and Vermont Creamery for their season sponsorship support. #cheesemaker #cheesemonger #smallbusinessbigdreams #SpecialtyFood #foodmaker #foodhub #cheeseshop #leadershipdevelopment #teambuilding #vtcheese

Back by popular demand: registration is live for our 2025 Business Miniversity cohort! ?? If you are a cheese or food producer, retail shop team, or manage any kind of food business, this educational series can strengthen your business management skills. ?? Content hits on leadership, finances and margins, human resource and labor, grant writing, technology tools, marketing and communication, and more!? ?? Fully virtual sessions are designed with actionable information, and group size is small and personal, with conversation and Q&A in every session. ?? Visit us at?vtcheese.com/bmini for more information. ?? Wednesdays from 12:00 – 1:30 PM ET over 9 weeks, March 5 – April 30, 2025. All sessions are recorded, so you can watch ones you can’t make. ???Pricing: $100 for the series. (That's less than $8 per hour of education!) ?? Discounts: VCC and Guild Members in California, Maine, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Wisconsin all receive 20% off! Reach out to your leadership for your promo code, or to education@vtcheese.com with proof of your guild membership. ?? The Vermont Cheese Council is a nonprofit organization who couldn't produce this programming without our community. A huge thank you to Dairy Connection Inc, Farm Credit East, ACA Northeast AgEnhancement, Mascoma Bank, Passumpsic Bank, and the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund for their Business Miniversity sponsorship, and to Cabot Creamery Cooperative and Vermont Creamery for their season sponsorship support. #cheesemaker #cheesemonger #smallbusinessbigdreams #SpecialtyFood #foodmaker #foodhub #cheeseshop #leadershipdevelopment #teambuilding #vtcheese

Registration is open for our 2025 Artisan Cheesemakers Winter Conference! This year's virtual conference focuses on two deep-dive topics, each spanning a virtual half-day with specific experts: ? Descriptive Sensory Analysis with Roy Deroschers, including sensory training, innovative consumer testing methods, Flavor Leadership Criteria, and the latest UVM Extension research on artisan cheese sensory quality. ? Art of Affinage with Eric Meredith, including technical considerations for managing the aging process, common affinage-related defects and shoestring fixes for them, and affinage specification for continuous improvement. While content is curated by cheesemakers for cheesemakers, we love to see all our monger, retailer, distributor, and industry friends who attend every year too! Visit us at vtcheese.com/conference for more information. Discounts available for members of Cheese Guilds; reach out to education@vtcheese.com with proof of your guild membership! ? VCC is a nonprofit organization who couldn't produce this programming without our community. A huge thank you to American Cheese Society, Dairy Connection Inc, Jasper Hill Farm, Mascoma Bank, and New England Dairy for their winter conference sponsorship, and to Cabot Creamery Cooperative and Vermont Creamery for their season sponsorship support. #artisancheese #cheesemaking #fortheloveofcheese #cheeseplease #cheeseeducation #cheesemakers #cheesemongers