The Comté Cheese Association is delighted to announce that Michael Oliver has won the 13th annual Comté Scholarship for American Cheese Society Certified Cheese Professionals™ (ACS CCPs™)! Oliver won an all-expenses-paid trip to the Comté region to explore the cheese and its culture first-hand, and a $750 cash stipend.

Michael Oliver, Head of Cheese Sales for Heber Valley Cheese in Midway, UT, upon learning the news replied, “I can’t believe it! I was runner up last year. I am so happy I applied again! I am thrilled to go to the Jura!”

Victoria Alessandra from Whole Foods Markets in Santa Rosa, CA was also named as runner-up. She will receive a special gift for her effort.

The essays were judged on the basis of knowledge and creativity by a panel of three renowned cheese experts: Cathy Strange, WFM Ambassador of Food Culture, Whole Foods Market, Inc., Nora Weiser, Executive Director of the Good Food Foundation and Director Emeritus of the American Cheese Society and Matt Thomas, Publisher Culture Magazine.

This year the essay question asked applicants: “Have you noticed a growing interest in specialty cheese and Comté in particular among consumers under 40 recently?” Oliver’s winning essay may be read here https://media.comte-usa.com/essays/25-M-Oliver-Essay.pdf.

The Certified Cheese Professional™ (CCP) Exam was established by the American Cheese Society in 2012 to encourage high standards of comprehensive cheese knowledge and service for professionals in all areas of the cheese world. The exam is based on the knowledge and skills required to successfully perform cheese-related tasks in jobs across the board.

Made exclusively in the Jura Mountain region of France, Comté is an artisanal cheese with PDO (European Protected Denomination of Origin) designation. Each wheel of Comté reflects a unique terroir, a season of production, and centuries of cheesemaking and affinage traditions.

For further information, please contact:

Comté Cheese Association

Email: trade@comte-usa.com

Follow Comté USA on Instagram: @Comte_USA

Become a fan on Facebook: www.Facebook.com/ComteUSA

The Comté Cheese Association – Comité Interprofessionnel de Gestion du Comté – was set up by decree on 11th June 1963. It represents all those who are involved in the production of Comté—dairy farmers, cheese-makers, affineurs—and carries out activities in all fields of interest to the trade, including research and technical issues, economics, information and communications, marketing, law and promotion of the Comté appellation, defense of local traditions and protection of the environment.

Carbonnier Communications represent the Comté PDO in the United States.