Getting Serious About Cheese

The USA Cheese Guild works, on behalf of American farmers and the entire U.S. cheese community, to build global awareness of the excellent Cheeses from the USA. Through education and promotions, the Guild aims to inform retail and foodservice professionals as well as consumers about the craftsmanship, innovation, variety and versatility of USA cheeses. The Guild sanctions the USA Cheese Specialist™ Certification Program which is offered through many prestigious culinary institutes and universities worldwide.

USDEC sought to create the USA Cheese Guild™, an entity sanctioning the USA Cheese Specialist™ Certification Program. The program enables foodservice and retail professionals (such as chefs, retail and deli staff, foodservice buyers, importers, distributors, etc.) to take courses to become “Certified USA Cheese Specialists™.” By taking the course through a culinary institute, participants earn a recognized certificate toward learning their trade. Participants in retail and foodservice can use the certificate to show that they are knowledgeable about U.S. cheese.

USDEC’s goals included:

• Program Goal: Educate the international trade and consumers about U.S. cheeses and create a network of cheese professionals who raise global awareness of excellent U.S. cheese, thereby increasing its visibility and, ultimately, sales.
• Project Goals: To launch the new program, Novak Birch was tasked with designing four logo marks and a suite of support materials that:
  • Give the program a professional, credible identity
  • Lead to the marks eventually becoming globally recognized as a symbol of being knowledgeable about U.S. cheese.

The program successfully launched in 2019 and continues to see steady enrollment and graduating USA Cheese Specialists, with over 600 graduates from countries including Japan, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Korea, Taiwan, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).