Despite relatively little external fanfare, last week saw a significant milestone for North American artisanal cheese with the official inauguration of the North American Chapter of the International Guilde de Fromagers.

The Guilde, a non profit organization, was established in 1969 by noted French affineur Pierre Androuet with a view to promoting and connecting the work of cheese professionals around the world while also helping to maintain standards of cheese knowledge.

With American artisanal cheese’s meteoric rise in recent years, it is no surprise that several members of the cheese industry from North America have been inducted into the Guilde. However until last week, they had to be inducted into other Chapters (such as Canada) since North America did not have a Chapter of its own.