This year, Snowdonia Cheese Company was an official sponsor of the Young Cheesemonger of the Year contest, the finals of which took place in Newport, Wales, on 2nd November 2022. The deserving winner was Aimée Rogers, 27, of Buchanans Cheesemonger in London, who competed against five other finalists to take the grand prize.
Aimée impressed the judges with her considered cheeseboard suggestions, accurate cut-and-wrap skills and impeccable knowledge of cheeses in both the identification and “MasterRind” rounds, compered by cheese expert Justin Tunstall.
One of the judges, Mathew Carver of The Cheese Bar in London, said: “Aimée conveyed her passion in a genuine, engaging and honest way and I could tell that she took her role in storytelling the work of the producers very seriously. When we saw she also had the technical skills and knowledge to back it up, then the winner was a clear choice.”
Fellow judge Dan Bliss, a buyer at Paxton & Whitfield, added: “We work in the most incredible industry and the Young Cheesemonger of the Year competition goes such a long way to show the next generation of cheesemongers that this can be a real job, with opportunity, progression and satisfaction.”
Aimée’s prize includes a place on the Academy of Cheese’s Level Two certification, a column in Fine Food Digest and an invitation to judge at next year’s World Cheese Awards in Trondheim, Norway.
The competition, organised by the Academy of Cheese, was set up in 2016 to recognise and champion fresh talent in the cheese industry.