Editor’s note: It’s been a while since we rounded up some of the most influential cheese accounts on Instagram. This time contributor @CarlosYescas weighs in with his picks.
Are we in the golden age of cheese content? It would seem like it. Not only are cheese professionals expanding their audiences beyond their niche cheese industry following, but now mainstream influencers and content producers are looking for followers and easy likes in the cheeseverse. We have complied a list of accounts we love and that help us understand even more about the world of cheese.
For the geeks out there, the posts by Cave Master Josh Windsor are long form, intended to educate his audience with a bit of science, art, history, and personal introspection. His posts feel almost out of place on Instagram and we would encourage him to start a newsletter. Find him at @theaffineur. If you are interested in cheesemaking from remote areas of Europe, you should follow Trevor Warmedahl in his travels via his Instagram account @milk_trekker – Carina Reckers has joined Trevor in a couple of his adventures and continues to enrich the story presented by him. She is also doing her own investigations and we are excited to see where she goes next, follow her at @carina.caseificio
Another cheese educator who has been on an adventure is Tenaya Darlington, aka Madame Fromage @mmefromage. She has spent the last year on a sabbatical to finish a forthcoming book called Adventures in Cheese (Workman, pub date: Fall 2023). Most recently she’s been in Luxembourg, driving a cheese cart for a family restaurant. But you’ll also find content related to her role as a Cheese Director for Tria, a restaurant group in Philadelphia and monthly educational videos (sponsored) about imported cheeses.
Also documenting pastoral life but in French is Aurélien Gillier in his instagram account @orel_casein – make sure to check out his highlights on his work in the Alps. If instead you prefer TikTok, you should be following @LuisierAffineur. His posts in French cover traditional cheeses, pairings, and his work as a cheese maturer. For delicious content from France, but in English language follow fellow contributor @chezlouloufrance on Instagram.
Angus D. Birditt has gorgeous photography and documents rural life in the UK at @ourisles on Instagram. He has a special focus on cheese and his book of the same name is one of those special treats where beautiful images transport the reader to the countryside. A similar book with a social media presence is @fromages.sauvages – unfortunately the posts have stopped, but the content left over is worth checking out. Which brings me to ask what happens to all this information, once an influencer moves platforms or changes projects, who is collecting all this information. Would these posts be forgotten like those blog posts we once wrote? Is anyone collecting these posts?
@thecheesewanker based in Australia is also sharing information that is educational and engaging. Along with Meg Quinn aka @ainttooproudtomeg who features posts on cheese pairings, focusing on easy-to-get cheeses at American supermarkets. Also sharing affordable cheese pairings and board ideas is @lisasdailycheeseplate – she has an interesting series putting together cheese boards on a budget sourcing from her local supermarket.
Not all great content is produced in English, or even centered around western European cheeses and cheesemaking. There is a wealth of content from other parts of the world if you know where to look. The translation features are getting good, and this has opened the possibility to follow accounts that are not posting exclusively in English or French. I have started to learn a lot about Turkish cheese and pastoral like from @serdaromacgurme. (Editor’s note: for more on this topic see our post with video on decolonizing cheese.)
At the moment the @quesoslechaudrone account is doing an excellent work of presenting basic cheese information in Spanish and sharing information that has been unavailable on social media until recently. The account is owned by a producer in Ecuador and joins @proyectalimentos also from the same country in engaging with the Spanish-speaking cheesemaking community. But perhaps my favorite accounts in Español are associated with @martinrosberg who is educating a new generation of cheesemakers in Uruguay and Colombia on natural cheesemaking practices.
Continuing in Spanish, it is worth looking at the active work that Lourdes Mata is doing with her account @quesosvenezolanos on all platforms including YouTube. Check out her video, where she introduces many of the Venezuelan cheesemakers who are now living abroad.
Finally from Venezuela but now living in Peru is Genessi Pinto and with over 80K followers on TikTok, she is engaging a younger audience in Latin-America sharing information in Spanish on European products. She recommended other influential TikTokers including @lafermierefromagesetvins and @punkrockparmigiano
You might notice that I am not including Facebook or Twitter accounts where so many of us started posting a long time ago. As video becomes the preferred form for sharing information accounts in TikTok are growing. Still, many are banking that the Instagram algorithm can generate fame, but the jury is still out over conversion rates to sales for cheese producers and paid gigs for professionals. What is real is that for the consumer information about cheese is readily available in any format, platform, and most importantly from a wide range of people and increasingly new locations.
I would love to hear your recommendations, reach me on Instagram at @CarlosYescas