This spring, I flew to Paris to scout a new tour and attend the Salon du Fromage, an event that draws cheese professionals from all over the world to talk, taste, and share ideas. As I looked around, I saw so much collaboration — between cheesemakers and affineurs, between affineurs and cheese shops, between cheese shops and consumers. The cheese world wouldn’t exist without this fabulous network. That’s why I want to highlight one of our great collaborators and invite you to consider a possible collaboration. Why not?
Are you someone who works in the food world as a shop owner, maker, or affineur? Or, are you part of a group that might enjoy traveling together? We love working with people to deepen their connection to artisan cheese and to each other.
Laura Downey of Fairfield Cheese in Connecticut was one of our first collaborators, and we’re thrilled to offer another tour (the 3rd) with her and her business partner Chris Palumbo this fall. You can read all about the British Cheese Odyssey we’ve planned with them in their Fairfield Cheese newsletter.
This trip not only gives Laura and Chris a chance to travel with friends and connect to favorite makers, but also the tour is an opportunity to grow their shop's brand. In fact, the collaboration has been highlighted by the Boston Globe, Connecticut Daily Journal, and by CT Bites.
If you’d like to collaborate with Cheese Journeys, please reach out. Let’s chat. In the meantime, here are some benefits and best practices that we share with our collaborators, including Fairfield Cheese (CT), WineStyles (IA), and Di Bruno Bros (PA).
Benefits of a Cheese Journeys Collaboration
A Cheese Journey creates customers that support the industry for life
A travel experience is a way to extend education to customers and/or staff
Cheese-focused food tours are a little different — set yourself apart!
How a CJ Collab Works
We provide marketing materials and content about the tour for your website, newsletters, and social media.
You provide enthusiasm for the tour by actively promoting it online (and in person!) with your clientele.
Know someone who might be a good collaborator with Cheese Journeys? Please feel free to forward this newsletter to someone in your network. And check out the short interview with Laura Downey (below) about her experience! I can't wait to travel with her and Chris again soon.
Q &A with Laura Downey of Fairfield Cheese
What are you most looking forward to on the British tour -- meeting makers? Walking the pastures of Somerset? Tasting a particular cheese?
ALL of the above! We can't wait to spend time with some of our favorite producers, like Jaime Montgomery, and we are also looking forward to our private tour and tasting with Neal's Yard Dairy.
What's been your experience working with Cheese Journeys?
This will be our third trip with Cheese Journeys, and we can't say enough good things! Anna puts together a first-class experience. From the stunning accommodations to the behind-the-scenes exposure to cheesemakers, winemakers, and artisan food producers, no one curates a trip like Cheese Journeys. It is a great way to combine a vacation with our passion for cheese and good food.
How can your customers (and cheese lovers in general) benefit from a cheese-focused food tour?
As people care more and more about where their food comes from and how it is produced, a cheese-focused food tour helps connect their favorite cheeses to the place it comes from, the culture, the tradition, and the history. Often these cheeses have been made for hundreds of years, and a tour like this allows them to understand how important preserving artisan cheese and foods are. It combines travel with good food, history, and culture.
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Pssst...check out the British Cheese Odyssey itinerary -- we still have a few spots! Questions? Please don't hesitate to email me at anna@cheesejourneys.com.