It’s almost the end of the year, and I’m feeling so much gratitude to be back working and growing with the cheese community. During the Pandemic, I was concerned for the future of my small business, and like many of you, I have slowly emerged with caution. I’m so pleased to say that in 2022, Cheese Journeys hit the road again! What a joy and privilege to travel with guests on tours to Northern Italy (twice), France/Switzerland, and England to celebrate artisan cheesemaking.
And we’ve seen an incredible surge in interest from enthusiasts – in fact, we’re building new tours and developing new collaborations to meet demand.
None of this would be possible without wonderful guests, the many artisan cheesemakers and cheese shop owners on our tours, and my incredible staff. In particular, I want to thank two people who have been with me since the beginning: Chef Sylvain Jamois, our private chef since the inception of Cheese Journeys, and cheese educator/writer Tenaya Darlington (a.k.a Madame Fromage) who signed on this year to run our social media.
This year, Camilla Bojsen-Møller joined us from Denmark on several tours to offer cheese education and her fabulous photography skills. Susan Wheaton, my longtime PR consultant, was invaluable in helping us spread the curd word internationally. And our mountain scout Teresa Kaufman helped us do the impossible on our Alpine tour by coordinating a visit to a village cow parade to celebrate the end of the Alpine cheesemaking season.
Cheese Journeys also had the pleasure of welcoming a few new faces this years:
Photographer Winter Caplanson signed up for our England tour and quickly ingratiated herself as our staff photographer. She chronicled the entire journey, including farm visits, meals, outdoor market visits, our staff’s beautiful cheese boards, and portraits of all our cheesemaking celebs posed with their rustic cheeses. We can’t wait for her to join us again!
Illustrator Milo Waterfield, who doubles as an animation director and also sometimes our sous chef, launched our poster series this year. Each Cheese Journey now has a custom poster with wonderful depictions of the people and places we visit, along with some of the cheeses, wines, and local accompaniments that are central to each of these journeys.
Events manager Jilly Sitch, who has deep roots in both cheese and hospitality, joined us to help orchestrate details. We met her at North Cadbury Court in Somerset, England where the staff secretly referred to her as “Mary Poppins.” With her prior experience organizing massive food events, such as the World Cheese Awards, she doesn’t bat an eye when it comes to pulling together a 60-person banquet celebrating British cheese. When you travel with us, you’ll enjoy her English charm.
I also want to thank my new cheese-shop collaborators this year! We've lined up a Northern Italy tour with Di Bruno Bros., and we've got a Formaggio Kitchen Alpine tour and a Formaggio Kitchen England tour in 2023! They join my stalwarts, Fairfield Cheese in Connecticut and WineStyles in Iowa. How fabulous to partner with shop owners who want to deepen their cheese connections and offer their customers unforgettable travel experiences!
Isn’t this how we create life-long appreciators of artisan cheese?
Thank YOU for sharing in our vision, following our tours, and telling your friends about us. As a niche travel business, we only thrive through strong connections – much like the casein network in a cheese, LOL!
P.S. Want to travel with us in 2023?
Visit our website to read all of our 2023 itineraries. We've been told they make good bedtime stories :) If you have questions, please don't hesitate to email me at anna@cheesejourneys.com. And yes, we still have a few rooms left for our new Château de Courances & Paris Cheese Journey!
