Cheesemakers

Despite the significant financial losses resulting from the theft, Neal’s Yard Dairy said it had honoured its commitment to small-scale suppliers by paying three artisan cheesemakers in full.

In our new research, we interviewed cheesemakers from 42 companies – representing almost a third of Australia’s cheese industry.

Over the past 60 years, cheesemakers have figured out how to select the right bacterial cultures to make cheese with specific flavors and textures.

I love working with other Maine cheesemakers, and I feel like we all need the support right now.

It’s an attitude that, if adopted by more locavores, would help Maine’s 80 registered cheesemakers weather the pandemic during which cheese sales to restaurants have been hit hard.

Other aspects factor into the type of cheese that’s produced: the salting method, its temperature and how long cheesemakers age it, which refers to the amount of time it is left alone to ripen and form.

While the co-op provides the milk for the cheese, the cheesemakers take a commission on the sale of the cheese.

But the cheesemakers of the county insisted that it wasn’t their fault their cheese, once highly regarded, had “grown into disrepute”.

Any grocery store will have cheese made by local cheesemakers that knocks the socks off the national brands (even national brands made in Wisconsin like Sargento) as well as most other states' local cheeses.

In recent years, cheesemakers in “America’s Dairyland” have broadened from commodity cheeses like cheddar, Colby, mozzarella and Swiss to gourmet and niche cheeses.

What's so special about the cheesemakers?

Currently, Wisconsin boasts 58 Master Cheesemakers, who are all qualified through an extensive process set by the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board.

The state is also well known as a home to many cheesemakers.