AURORA, Colo. – March 3, 2022 – After a three-year hiatus, the American Cheese Society’s Annual
Conference makes its much-anticipated, in-person return this summer.

The 39th Annual Conference, “Blazing the Trail for Cheese”, will be held from July 20-23 in Portland,
Oregon, with the Pacific Northwest’s own Tillamook Creamery as the event’s marquee sponsor.

“Tillamook is Oregon-made and Oregon proud, and our cooperative is thrilled to play host to professionals
from the cheese industry in the Americas and, indeed, from all over the world,” Tillamook’s Denise LaBrie
said. Renowned for its cheese, ice cream, yogurt, and butter, each year the cooperative releases a
cheddar aged 3 years and a cheddar aged ten years under its Maker’s Reserve vintage cheddar brand.

Conference-goers will also be able to attend an awards ceremony, where the winners of the American
Cheese Society’s Annual Judging and Competition (held this May in Minneapolis) will be announced.

In addition, both the ACS Certified Cheese Professional exam, and the ACS Certified Cheese Sensory
Evaluator T.A.S.T.E. test, will once again be held in-person.

Other conference favorites, including Meet the Cheesemaker, Midnight Mongers, and the Cheese Crawl,
will make a welcome return. More than 30 educational sessions will be held on Thursday, Friday, and
Saturday, with topics including:

● Philosophy Behind the Farm: A Panel of Diverse Small Ruminant Operations, featuring Kathryn
Spann, Prodigal Farm and Mariana Marques de Almeida, Mrs. J & Co. along with a panel of
experts

● What Grows Together Goes Together: Oregon's Dynamic Geological History and Terroir - a
tasting session with Katie Bray, Oregon Cheese Guild; Scott Burns, Portland State University;
and Jim Bernau, Willamette Valley Vineyards

● Cheese gone bad?: Microbial Challenges and Potential Solutions - a food safety and food
science session from a panel of Oregon State University scientists.

Registration for Blazing the Trail for Cheese is available at https://www.cheesesociety.org/2022-
conference/. Press passes are available to qualified individuals upon request.