Following the impressive results achieved at the Centennial Pennsylvania Farm Show, cheesemakers of Chester County have now found an additional way to support their skills and exceptional dairy products.   

In a joint effort that celebrates the quality of Pennsylvania-made cheese, a group of cheese producers, retailers, scientists and aficionados have banded together to form a guild that will provide much needed support to the ever-growing cheese industry across the state, writes the Times of Chester County.

According to the website of the newly formed Pennsylvania Cheese Guild, its main mission is to promote the highest standards of cheesemaking while celebrating the diversity of the local cheese community through a variety of partnerships, as well as outreach and education.

“The formation of this guild excites me because I know that there are some great things that are being accomplished in our area,” said Emilio Mignucci, Vice President of DiBruno Brothers, “and I also believe that if you are going to be able to get better in such a niche industry such as craft, artisanal cheese there needs to be a strong voice to be able to ask for help and to get help.”

The first annual meeting of the guild will be held on Thursday at Penn State’s Rodney A. Erickson Food Science Building. The meeting, which begins at 4 p.m., will feature a seminar on “The Terroir of Cheese,” presented by Dr. Lisbeth Goddik from Oregon State University. The meeting will also include a business session during which bylaws and various administrative matters will be discussed.

Once the presentation and business matters are attended to, there will be a networking reception for the members of newly formed group with industry members and producers of chees from across the state invited and encouraged to participate.

The guild will attempt to provide a forum for networking and education that will help members improve their skills, while it will also point its efforts toward more long-term goals, such as the strengthening of the quality, safety and sustainability of the cheese industry in the state.

“Part of our focus is to reinforce a sense of community within the industry, and to foster its growth,” said Stefanie Angstadt, a member of the Guild’s Steering Committee.