About
The Good Food Awards rely on the expertise of the cheese community to create the tasting, determine judges and set standards for the category. Read on to learn who has been integral to building the category, as well as what the cheese standard are and who will be judging this year.
Committee
Co-ChairsRebekah Baker
Director of Cheese, UNFI
Rebekah Baker has been working in Specialty Cheese for +13 years. The first half of her career was spent in retail working at Pastoral Artisan, Whole Foods, and as Corporate Director of Cheese for Nugget Market. Next, she moved into distribution, as the Category Director of Cheese for Tony’s Fine Foods. Then she moved over to the producer side and worked with Tillamook and Treeline. Presently, she is the national Director of Cheese & Specialty for UNFI. She has served on the board for the California Artisan Cheese Guild and has been an active volunteer with ACS, currently serving as the Scholarship Committee Chair. She received her ACS CCP™ certification in 2014 and her Executive MBA degree in 2019.
Felice Thorpe
Founder, Felice Foods
Felice Thorpe is the owner of a sales consulting company, Felice Foods. She brings a history of building and scaling brands with regional and national product launches. She has served as the president of the California Artisan Cheese Guild, Judge, and Chairperson for the cheese category for the Good Food Awards. Her past experience working for a national specialty foods distributor informs her unique perspective to help craft food brands grow.
Standards
In order to be eligible for a Good Food Award, cheese entries must meet the following standards:
Subcategories
Additionally, cheese entries must fit within one of the following subcategories (vegetarian and/or vegan substitutes are permitted):
- Fresh
- Semi-Soft
- Semi-Hard
- Hard
- Yogurt
2022 Judges
Rebekah Baker
Sales Manager, Tillamook
Colette Hatch
Consultant, Oliver
David Hauss
Sales Manager, Pacific Cheese Company
Amy Mackintosh
Cheese Specialist, Sigonas Farmers Market
Omri Avraham
Cheese Purchaser, The Cheese Board Collective
Iris Williamson
Mission Bay Wine & Cheese, Food Director
Erin Christie
Regional Sales Manager, Fra’Mani Handcrafted Foods
Debra Dickerson
Director of Education & Customer Outreach, Cowgirl Creamery /Tomales Bay Foods
Janet Fletcher
Publisher, Planet Cheese
Jonathan Alexander
Cheesemonger + Wine Buyer, Little Vine
Michelle Sheely
Director of Sales, Three Trees