CONCORD — Giuseppe Argentieri is slicing into a glistening white orb of mozzarella and handing out samples to a crowd circling his display. “This is so fresh that the milk the cheese is made from was three days ago in the cow,” says Argentieri, a native of Italy, who uses milk from local herds to make cheese for Mozzarella House in Peabody.
The cheese maker is one of 14 Massachusetts artisan and farmstead producers who are at Verrill Farm to launch the new Massachusetts Cheese Guild, a nonprofit consumer education group. The guild comprises cheese makers, retailers, distributors, and cheese enthusiasts who can sign up online for $25 to receive notices about tastings and events. “We’ve set this up to be a composite of all aspects of the cheese business, those who love cheese, along with the artisans who make it,” says Barbara Hanley, the guild’s president and a business partner at Shy Brothers Farm in Westport.
Hanley pulled in 21 cheese makers and three trade sponsors underwrote the guild’s formation — importer and distributor Seacrest Foods in Lynn, The Cheese Shop in Concord, and Shubie’s Marketplace in Marblehead. When she put the word out, close to 20 trade members joined and dozens of cheese-loving consumers signed up.
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