Enjoy an evening of networking, refreshments and fun in the heart of downtown Madison with fellow young professionals in the dairy processing industry.

Purchase ticket to attend.

 

Location: Forthcoming

Join friends and colleagues as valued industry supplier Tetra Pak kicks off CheeseCon 2025 with this refined gathering, open top all attendees.

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Location: Atrium

Dairy student teams from across the United States gather at CheeseCon to evaluate dairy products and vie for the title of Collegiate Champion. Visit the action live on-site and catch a glimpse of the future of the dairy industry.

Location: Mendota Rooms 5-7

Everyone at CheeseCon can enjoy a complimentary lunch during the Tabletop Exhibits. Enjoy networking with friends, new and old.

Location: Hall A

Supplier experts take to our two education stages throughout the afternoon, imparting quick-hitting impactful information to dairy processors. It's a tool chest of ideas presented right on the exhibit floor.

Location: Hall B

Nationally-recognized cheese evaluators will lead attendees through the process of examining, tasting and evaluating the quality of ten cheese styles. Learn the steps in professional grading, the nomenclature of flavor, texture and body defects, and scoring systems used in regulatory and competition grading.

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Location:  Upper Level Meeting Rooms

Hundreds of students attending Cheesecon for the Collegiate Dairy Products Evaluation Contest move from visiting exhibits to our main stage to celebrate the students and schools that performed best!


 

Location: Hall A

Relax and mingle with your peers as Custom Fabricating & Repair hosts this special closing party for 2025 CheeseCon.

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Location: Capitol Ballroom, Sheraton Hotel

All attendees are invited to celebrate the achievements of industry greats. WCMA is proud to honor leaders who have built the U.S. Cheese industry, featuring recipients of:

• WCMA Babcock Award
• WCMA Vanguard Award
• WCMA Luminary Award
• WCMA Distinguished Service Award
• WCMA Cheese Industry Champion Award
• WCMA Life Member

Sponsored by: 

Location: Hall A

Exclusively for artisan and specialty cheesemakers, this workshop at Center for Dairy Research (CDR) will focus on specialty cheese, ripening and aging, food safety, and insights into equipment and ripening rooms used in processing. Space is limited to 25 participants and the special $50 fee includes the workshop, lunch and transportation to/from CDR.  The shuttle bus will depart the Alliant Energy Center at 12:15 p.m. and return by 3:30 p.m.

Purchase ticket to attend.

 

Location: Center for Dairy Research

Description: Gather with dairy professionals from around the nation to honor the outstanding achievements of the 2025 United States Championship Cheese Contest Winners. This elegant gala is a night to remember for dairy craftsmen, and a must for anyone with a passion for the industry.

Purchase ticket to attend.

 

Location: Hall A

Treating wastewater from dairy processing offers challenges in capturing and managing nutrients as well as opportunities in capturing and managing nutrients. As options narrow for land and waterway application of treated water, new technology is discovering novel solutions and opportunities to enhance treatment and harness “waste” nutrients as useful end products.

Hosted by:
 and 

Location: Mendota Rooms 1-2

GHG emissions are a critical sustainability topic for many industries, including U.S. dairy.  As a result, stakeholders increasingly expect companies to measure, disclose, and manage their GHG footprints. This includes setting credible, science-based GHG reduction goals for scope 1 (direct), scope 2 (indirect from energy), and scope 3 (value chain) emissions.   Join a panel of dairy industry and processor experts to explore carbon foot printing across the farm, plant and product levels. Gain insights into the latest guidance, methodologies, and resources from The Climate Source and the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy and how they support dairy companies on their decarbonization journeys. 

Hosted by:
 and 

Location: Upper Level Meeting Rooms

Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy has built successful industry teams to advanced key food safety goals including foreign material control, pathogen control in brines, and advanced genomics testing for environmental monitoring. Join your peers in food safety for updates and resources in each of these cutting-edge product safety areas.

Location: Mendota Rooms 1-2

Learn about innovative uses for whey and whey permeate from scientists at Center for Dairy Research and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. New areas of study include using whey permeate to generate higher value products by bio fermentation and novel extraction of bioactives from dairy coproducts. Researchers will discuss characterizing the properties of sweet whey powder using rheology and approaches to improve the solubility of high-protein milk powder.

 

Location: Mendota Rooms 3-4

The largest tabletop exhibit floor in the 37-year history of this national conference - more than 350 expert supplier partners from around the world - takes over CheeseCon Wednesday afternoon. It's the dairy industry's single best interaction of processors and solutions providers - all in one giant hall.

Location: Exhibit Halls B, C, D

Enjoy the Thursday evening festivities with a splendid gathering featuring the best cheeses from all over the nation.

Location: Lobby

Attendees reconvene for a complimentary lunch.

Location: Hall A

Sustainability initiatives are increasingly shaping the landscape of international trade. For U.S. dairy exporters, aligning with evolving market expectations and regulatory frameworks is essential to drive growth and maintain competitiveness. In this session, hear from national trade and sustainability experts about how evolving trade policies, customer expectations and sustainability certifications are shaping the future of dairy exports.

Hosted by:

Location: Upper Level Meeting Rooms

Join Center for Dairy Research cheese technologists and scientists as they offer an overview of common cheese defects and their causes, discuss avoiding flavor and texture defects in commodity cheeses and describe the use of genomic sequencing techniques to help solve defects. You will also learn about anti-fungal compounds derived from dairy as well as making cheese from very-high-casein milk.

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Location: Mendota Rooms 3-4

Rapid innovation and constant disruption demand adaptability and resilience from dairy processors. As the pace of change in our industry quickens, hear directly from leaders in transition, as they share actionable strategies to balance vision with agility, harnessing the power of emerging technology, building inclusive culture, and navigating dynamic markets and politics. Betty Thompson, Chair of the Board of Directors of the Society for Human Resource Management offers change management strategies and tools, complemented by a panel of dairy industry leaders featuring Heather Anfang, President of Dairy Foods, EVP at Land O' Lakes Inc.; Craig Caballero, CEO of United Dairymen of Arizona; Bob Sarver, President and CEO of Great Lakes Cheese; and David Scharfman, VP of Growth at Specialty Cheese Company.

Kick off Wednesday morning with Amcor's continental breakfast.

Sponsored by:

Location: Atrium

The afternoon of Tabletop Exhibits closes with a bang as the dairy industry gathers to celebrate gold medalists in the United States Championship Cheese Contest and bids to take these winners home. The Novonesis Reception is the high energy climax to the first full day at CheeseCon and a chance to support WCMA Contests, scholarships, training programs and strategic support of industry partners like CDR. Bid for the future of the dairy industry!

Sponsored by: 

Location: Hall A