The FACE Network Annual Meeting 2023 took place the 11-12-13 of October in Grangeneuve, Switzerland, in the beautiful countryside of Fribourg.
Hosted by the great organisation of Fromarte, Grangeneuve and Agroscope, over 200 participants coming from 15 different countries were registered in the venue, attending the rich programme under the theme of “Raw Milk and Raw Milk Products”.
The activities started the 1st day with a series of thematic trips visiting different Swiss raw milk productions like Vacherin Fribourgeois AOP, Emmentaler AOP, Gruyère AOP and Mountain cheeses.

The second day all participants have been busy since the morning in practical workshops in the Grangeneuve dairy led by the school cheesemakers, discovering several local cheesemaking techniques.

After, the FACE Network General Assembly took place: the attendants were informed about the current life of the network and the annual budget was approved.

A quite important space has been reserved for the scientific and research issues: a rich poster exhibition showed many interesting projects, with the possibility to interact with the authors, and the 2 days Congress, where important international relators showed their presentations, affording the theme of raw milk from different sides: quality and safety, sustainability, health effects and microbial biodiversity.
The Congress showed definitely the complexity of the raw milk world and the crucial importance of scientific research.

In the evening at the dinner party, the traditional European cheese buffet was the main attraction. Around this long and spectacular table of over 80 cheeses all the guests have been busy tasting, sharing impressions, exchanging opinions and enjoying the moment with live music in the background.

The last day, between the works of the Congress a moment full of emotion occurred: a local herdsman came with his traditional clothes and told about his life and traditional habits. He also explained about an ancient song used to call the cows in the evening from the pasture and began singing it with a beautiful and powerful voice, involving the whole audience.

The Congress and with it the Annual Meeting ended with the final thanks and greeting of Stefan Truttman (Fromarte) and the passage of the FACE Network Flag to Camilla Sæbjørnsen (Norsk Gardsost) for the next meeting 2024 in Oslo, Norway.

All the presentations, posters and images of the Annual Meeting 2023 are at your disposal on the web page