Welcome to the website of Peter Dixon, Dairy Foods Consultant and the Training Center for Farmstead Cheesemaking.

First, some background information about myself. I have been making dairy foods commercially since 1983, first as part-owner of the Guilford Cheese Company, Guilford, VT, where we made Brie, Camembert, Quark and Creme fraiche; then as a cheesemaker at Shelburne Farms Farmhouse Cheddar facility; next as the cheesemaker and quality control manager at Vermont Butter and Cheese Company, Websterville, VT, where we made Chevre, Mold-ripened, Cheddar and Fontina-style cheeses from milk collected from 25 goat dairies and Creme Fraiche, Quark and Fromage Blanc; as part-owner of Westminster Dairy, Westminster West, VT, where I made certified-organic, farmstead cheeses from Jersey cow milk; and, most recently, as a cheesemaker at the Consider Bardwell Farm in West Pawlet, Vermont where we make a variety of natural rind cheeses from the farm’s goat milk and cow milk from Jersey Girls Farm. I have used cow, goat and sheep milk to make a wide range of dairy foods including yogurt, sour cream and Creme fraiche, butter, ice cream, and many varieties of fresh and aged cheeses.

I have also served as a dairy foods specialist for Land O'Lakes International Development Division projects in Macedonia and Albania and the USDA Marketing Assistance Project in Armenia, providing on-site technical assistance and classroom training in dairy food science and technology and quality control to small-scale dairy foods manufacturers and traditional cheesemakers.

Dairy Foods Consulting

Since 1996, I have been operating a dairy foods consulting business for clients in the US. My projects have included:

• Designing a cave for Cato Corner Farm
• Developing two cow milk cheeses for Vermont Shepherd
• Assisting in the expansion plans and developing new cheeses for Haystack Mountain Goat Dairy and Shanghai Ambrosia Fine Foods Company.
• Assisting in the start-up of the following cheese businesses: Taylor Farm Farmstead Gouda, Neighborly Farms of Vermont, Mecox Bay Dairy, Brovetto Dairy and Cheese House, Robie Farm, and Clover Mead Farm.
• Other clients include: Green Mountain Blue, Cobb Hill Farm, Goat Lady Dairy, Pedrozo Dairy, Estrella Family Creamery, Chase Hill Farm, Mount Townsend Creamery, Bonnie Blue Farm, Blackberry Farm, Three Ring Farm, Woodcock Farm, Birch Run Hills Farm, River Valley Ranch and Berle Farm.