Say...

Cheese

Good Food Awards will be given to the tastiest artisan and farmstead cheeses in the categories of Fresh, Semi-Soft, Semi-Hard, Hard, and Yogurt. Cheeses and yogurts that meet the standards for entry are made using good animal husbandry, without the use of hormones, and without the use of synthetic inputs on the pastures.

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-Chairs

Rebekah 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.

 

Debra Dickerson

Cheese Educator, Cheese Lover & Consultant to Cheesemakers, 3D Cheese

 Education has always been a part of sustainable sales growth, and Debra has been connecting cheesemakers and cheese mongers through story telling since 2000. Debra started 3D Cheese and traveled the states building market recognition and sales for emerging cheese producers including Neal’s Yard. Dairy, Jasper Hill Farm, Redwood Hill Farm, Avonlea, and Cowgirl Creamery. Debra is an advocate for positive action taken by dairy to slow climate change, humane animal treatment and the human benefits from animal nutrition. She is a member of the Guild du Fromage, California Artisan Cheese Guild and the American Cheese Society. She is the proud recipient of the American Cheese Society Lifetime Achievement Award.

Doralice Handal

Founder, Denier-Handal Wines & Locals Tasting Room

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.

Committee Members

Rebecca Buhler, Tomales Bay Foods
Debbie Peterson

Judges

Maureen Cunnie

Cheesemaker

Dimitri Saad

Purchasing Manager, Food Matters Again

Aislinn Muir

Dairy Buyer, Amy's Kitchen

Timothy Melano

Founder, Triple Coffee

Andy Fitzgerrell

Sales Director, Sach Foods

David Hauss

Pacific Cheese Co, Senior Manager of Retail Sales

Janet Fletcher

Publisher, Planet Cheese

Stephanie Jordan

West Coast Sales Manager, World's Best Cheeses West

Emily O’Conor

Owner, Merchant and Monger

Trevor Thomas

Sr. Manager of Retail Merchandising & Training, Lactalis American Group

Michelle Sheely

Head of Sales: St Benoit, St Benoit Creamery/ Laura Chenel

Standards

In order to be eligible for a Good Food Award, cheese entries must meet the following standards:

  • Made in the USA or US territories.
  • Made by the entrant’s own company, with milk from animals raised using good animal husbandry* with access to the outdoors.
  • Made without the use of synthetic herbicides, pesticides, fungicides or fertilizers on the pastures.
  • Made without hormones or sub-therapeutic antibiotics.
  • Made with rBGH-free milk.
  • Made with sustainable repurposing of byproducts, such as whey, where possible.
  • Made with milk from animals fed local, GM-free feed where available. Where it is not, the crafter is invested in being an agent of change towards greater availability, by working with suppliers and local granges, vocalizing their interest in this type of local feed if and when it becomes available.**
  • Made with other ingredients, such as rennet, starter cultures, yogurt additions, herbs and washes that are sourced domestically or locally (where possible) and produced without the use of synthetic herbicides, pesticides, fungicides, fertilizers and non-GMO.
  • Made by a crafter that is an upstanding member of the good food community, committed to equity and inclusion in all levels of their business,*** as exemplified through integrating these  practices:
    • Offering a diversity, equity, and inclusion training to staff members and/or leadership annually.
    • Thoughtfully acknowledging the heritage of culturally-specific food on websites, packaging and/or marketing materials.
    • For the small percentage of Good Food community that operates on a significantly larger scale, meeting additional criteria related to board diversity, maternity leave and employment practices.***

*The Good Food Foundation will ask producers to provide The National Dairy FARM Program certification or equivalent documentation of animal care.
**Our intention is that producers make their best efforts to balance the realities of feed supplies with the ideals of responsible and sustainable production methods.
***Check if you are in the 2% of companies meeting the Good Food Foundation definition of large scale, and review the addition criteria on the Rules & Regulations page.

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