Grows up: farmstead, artisan and specialty cheesemaker are developing real markets, upgrading facilities and even partnering with the big boys

Dairy Foods, March, 2006 by David Phillips

Kurt Dammeier of Beecher's Handmade Cheese, Seattle, serves on the ACS board with Gremmels. He is also a founder and majority stake holder in Pyramid Breweries, a 22-year-old award winning company that operates a string of bottling plants and brewpubs along the west coast.

At the July ACS conference in Portland, Ore., Dammeier will moderate a panel on lessons to be learned from the craft beer industry.

To find out more about American specialty cheese and the people who make it visit www.cheesesociety.org.