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5th European Farmhouse and Artisan Cheesemakers Congress

UCC, Ireland from the 24th to the 27th of April 2013

It has been a month since the 5th European Farmhouse and Artisan Cheesemakers Congress took place here in Cork, Ireland. We hope that all of you who participated found the congress both informative and enjoyable.

A sincere thank you to all of those who helped organise the congress, those who participated, especially our international delegates and of course Bord Bia and our other sponsors, without whom the congress could never have happened.

We started off on Wednesday night with a small get together in UCC, where participants were able to register and meet with each other.

On Thursday morning, about 80 of us headed off on two buses for a visit to Coolea Farmhouse Cheese. Thank you to Dicky and his team for the very informative tour of the cheeseplant and being able to experience the cheesemaking process. Thank you to Hélène and her team for the generous hospitality, delicious cake, coffee and tea!

Video: CAIS Cheese Congress 2013

We continued our very scenic journey to Schull where we spent the afternoon at Gubbeen Farmhouse. The delicious food and warm atmosphere that we were met with was out of this world. The afternoon was spent eating some of Gubbeen’s culinary delights whilst drinking some good wines and beer and enjoying each others company. There was some lovely Irish music and the beautiful sunshine was an absolute bonus! After lunch, participants were able to visit the cheeseplant and the smoke house. Thank you to Giana, Tom, Clovisse, Fingal and the many others who were involved in organising this fantastic afternoon. Thank you also to our guest speakers, Darina Allen and John McKenna.

Friday was the day of the conference on “Sustainability, Best Practice & Market Opportunities”, which brought together 170 people associated with cheese. It was a very full and productive day during which a lot of information was shared and people were able to meet and network. Thank you to all our speakers: Mr. Simon Coveney, T.D., Minister for Agriculture, Food & the Marine, Padraig Brennan, Bord Bia, Professor Alan Kelly, UCC, Patrick Berridge, Carrigbyrne Farmhouse Cheese, Professor Ger Fitzgerald, Head of Microbiology, UCC, Dr. Lisa O’Connor, Food Safety Authority of Ireland, Dr. Kieran Jordan, Teagasc, Mark Hurley, Chr. Hansen, George Paul, Bradburys UK, Sarah & Sergio Furno, J&L Grubb, Yolande Moulem, Fédération Nationale des Eleveurs de Chèvres, Atie van Olst, Bond van Boerderij Zuivelbereiders, Insa Petersen, IP Ingredients, Marc Albrecht-Seidel, Verband für handwerkliche Milchverarbereitung im ökologischen Landbau e.V., Patrick Le Ravallec & Sylvie Aujogue, Pȏle d’Expirémentation et de progrès Caprin Rhȏne Alpes. You can find the presentations on this page.

That night, we feasted our eyes on a beautiful display of European cheeses which we thoroughly enjoyed tasting, together with a good glass of wine. There was a lovely atmosphere thanks to the Irish music being played for us and the Irish dancers.

The meetings of the four working groups, Marketing, Hygiene, Technology and Goats Meat was held on Saturday morning, followed by the Annual General Meeting of FACE. This is where the European members got together to discuss matters of importance within FACE and exchange ideas.

The congress came to a close on Saturday night in Nash 19. This was a wonderful evening where participants were able to enjoy some of Cork’s finest foods, beautifully combined and presented. Thank you to Claire Nash and her team.

We are looking forward to our next meeting in the Netherlands where we hope to see you all again.

Slán go fóill.

CAIS Committee 5th European Farmhouse and Artisan Cheesemakers Congress