A group of six cheese retailers and cheese marketing specialists from Thailand will visit the Center for Dairy Research at the University of Wisconsin in Madison on January 18-20.
It’s part of a two-week program to learn about gourmet cheeses. The program, funded through a Cochran Fellowship Program Grant from the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service, will also involve visiting dairy farms, cheese factories, specialty cheese shops, large retail grocery chains, restaurants, and bars.
The visit focuses on training and networking, helping the Thai build relationships with manufacturers, companies, distributors, and government partners. The overall objective of the program is to ultimately expand U.S. cheese exports to Thailand. Some of the activities at the Center include cheese tastings and evaluations, demonstrating activities like Swiss cheese and specialty/artisan cheese making, and lectures on the basics of cheese science and the cheesemaking process.
The proposal and itinerary for the visit were first announced in February 2022.
