How does one become a Cheesemonger?

Paved with Brick or laden with Tommes, the path to cheese can be a very varied one for us Mongers. Here are the stories of some of those travels.

Jessica Becker, with cheese stars in her eyes

Jessica Becker ACS CCP, ACS CCSE (American Cheese Society Certified Cheese Professional and Certified Cheese Sensory Evaluator)

Sales and Promotion Coordinator

Fortune Fish Gourmet

 

Degree in Medieval English Literature —super unemployable. Went to culinary school and played Chef for a decade, then culinary school teacher. Covid hit, was starting cheese mongering at a specialty grocery store. Loved it.

 

Started working towards getting a CCP. Found that cheese encompassed everything I had been learning for the past 30 yrs.

 

Took online classes with UVM, Stanford continuing education, spent a week in France learning with Mons Affineurs and passed the CCP and a few years later, CCSE.

 

Cheese people are the best people

Jessica Pierce

Jessica Pierce

ACS Certified Cheese Professional

Affineur for Jasper Hill

I started out as a deli supervisor, but I wasn’t receiving the training I felt I needed to truly succeed in the role.

 

Whenever there was downtime, I’d head over to the mongers and ask if they needed help—or if they’d be willing to teach me something new.

 

When an apprenticeship opened up, I applied immediately.

 

I went on to work as a Cheesemonger for 6–7 years.

 

During that time, I spent about six months studying intensively to prepare for the CCP (Certified Cheese Professional) exam.

 

Mongering is, hands down, the best job in the cheese industry.

 

Currently, I work as an Affineur for Jasper Hill as part of the soft cheese team. I am the line leader for our hand cut and wrap program and am also part of the Jasper Hill street team, where I go to events to serve and/or sell our cheese.

 

A little more about me:

I hold a Bachelor of Fine Arts with concentrations in painting and ceramics.

 

I love going all out in costume for Renaissance festivals.

 

I handmade an Ezio costume from Assassin’s Creed and wore it to the Minnesota Renaissance Festival—people kept asking where I bought it! 😈

Liz Nerud, taking her job to the next level

Photo credit: Kerry Jerred

Liz Nerud

ACS Certified Cheese Professional

Kowalski's Markets

I started working in the grocery business in 1999, starting in the catering department at Lunds and Byerly's.  They had installed one of the very first grocery store cheese counters in a grocery store in the Twin Cities a year or two prior.  Kowalski's Markets also began their cheese program around 2000 and I was thrilled to join their team in 2017 as a department manager at that time.  I appreciate the fact that for Kowalski's the Specialty Cheese department is not a subset of the deli but rather its own entity.  This allows for a greater concentration of resources and imagination to create innovation and excellence.

 

I quickly left catering when a position at the cheese counter became available!  I was attracted to the novelty of promoting cheese.  I had grown up in Wisconsin with its very cheese centric culture and I knew there was so much to learn.  I was captivated by how cheeses were created, what made them all so different!  I loved connecting to the makers, whether in person or reading about them.  The greatest resource we had back in the day was The Cheese Primer by Steve Jenkins. It is so awesome to have the vast materials we have today.  I love how there are so many perspectives and cheese celebrities that have a solid foundation in cheese knowledge.  I have been inspired by the way our industry has always placed an emphasis on creating a cohesive, creative and celebratory energy.  The collaborative nature is very attractive to me.

My thirst for cheese knowledge took on a scholarly path when I studied and sat for the American Cheese Society Certified Cheese Professional exam in 2013.  This is a very serious undertaking and required tremendous focus and study.  I was proud to pass the exam the second year that it was offered.  I consider it to be akin to a marriage certificate because the real work begins once you get it.  There is always so much more to learn and appreciate.  It did propel my career forward with promotions and additional responsibilities within both the cheese industry and the grocery industry.

My main joy has always been connecting with my customers at the store, welcoming them with the hospitality I learned growing up in farm country.  Always comfortable, always good conversation.  I enjoy creating an atmosphere that welcomes and makes people feel at home, even though the cheese counter can be intimidating!  I meet people where they are at, suggesting things I think they will like and then expand their appreciation.  I love the fact that specialty cheese is the opposite of generic.  It has history, science, land, animals and people, all of which makes for great storytelling.  get to connect customers with the product! I This is the real point of it all, isn't it?  My favorite thing is when a customer returns and tells me that they enjoyed the cheese, how they enjoyed it and who they enjoyed it with.  It goes from being a perfunctory experience to being something that enhances the pleasure of life.  They got to tell the story too.

Me?

Kerry Jerred

ACS Certified Cheese Professional

Founder

Forage to Fromage LLC

Cheese Grotto Customer Service Lead

 

Well, I have always said that cheese is like a lost kitten, it finds you. I am a good example of that uncommon colloquialism.

 

I have always been interested in how things get made. I grew up making things, we were not allowed to sit still. Always learning and always creating. We did macrame, woodworking, boat buildiing, needlepointing, sewing, candle dipping, pottery, stain glass window making, cooking, knitting, crocheting, cross stitch, rug hooking, ungh.  I made my wedding gown! And, while writing this blog, I am making Brazilian cheese bread with Imperial Buck form Deer Creek.

 

I attended UW Madison, studying Metallurgical Engineering. Graduated with a BS in Interior Design. Yes, really.

 

At 24, I was lucky enough to become an at home mom.

 

In 2005, I went to work at a local grocery store as a cashier the same year I became a founding Board Member at a Charter School. Remained on the School Board for 10 years.

 

Five years of the 15yrs that I was at the grocery store were spent as their Cheesemonger. Loved it! I have always been interested in how things get made, the reasoning, the process, the inspiration.

 

COVID sent me home from the store. 2019 was also the same year I founded my biz, Forage to Fromage. I studied and sat for my CCP in 2021 – and PASSED!

 

I wrote a very serendipitous email to Jessica Sennet asking if she needed help with her virtual events during that time and she said yes! Turned out, I had bought one of the first Cheese Grottos (2016) well before we ever communicated.

 

So, yes, that kitten found me.

 

See my Grotto story: Used, and better than ever.

What a Cheesemonger Brings to Your Table—and What You Begin to Learn

Deep Product Knowledge
Cheesemongers build intimate knowledge of cheeses and the people who make them. They taste constantly, visit farms, attend industry events, and discover new producers. As a grotto owner, you start building your own sensory memory. You learn to taste changes over time, notice how environment influences flavor and gain confidence.

Showcasing Artisan & Local
Cheesemongers champion small producers and understand their stories. Grotto owners often begin seeking out those same artisan cheeses—because when you care for cheese properly, you want something worth tending.

Certifying Product Quality
Behind the counter, Cheesemongers are rigorously trained in food safety, sanitation, temperature control, and handling. At home, you begin understanding the importance of airflow, humidity balance, and separation of styles. You appreciate that cheese care is both art and science.

Epicurean Adventures
Cheesemongers excel at pairing and those magical “trust me, try this” moments. As a Grotto owner, you get to create those moments yourself. You experiment, wait for peak ripeness and serve with confidence.

And what about our fearless leader?

Jessica Sennet

Founder

Inventor

Cheese Grotto

 

 Learn all about Jessica and her path here: Her story