The call for entries for the first-ever Milk Marketer of the Year competition, a joint awards program from Dairy Foods and the Milk Processor Education Program (MilkPEP), drew an impressive assortment of entries.

Rogue Creamery is an organic artisan cheesemaker from Central Point, Ore., that specializes in producing blue cheese, cheddars and more. Websterville, Vt.-based Vermont Creamery is an artisan cheese company that specializes in fresh and aged goat cheeses, and fresh cow cheeses.

Specialty cheese sales are on the rise, noted Rachel Kerr, director of events and public relations for Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board (WMMB), Madison.

Horizon Organic, a brand of DanoneWave, Broomfield, Colo., launched of a new line of snacking products. Good & Go snack packs feature cheese paired with nuts, dried fruit or pretzels and are packaged in convenient 1.26-ounce packages.

In 1978, two guys named Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield forked over $5 to take a Penn State correspondence course on ice cream making. They then went on to invest $12,000, $4,000 of it borrowed, to open their first ice cream shop in a former gas station located in Burlington, Vt.

Rojo’s, Buena Park, Calif., expanded its portfolio with a new line of Queso dips. The dips come in two varieties: Salsa Con Queso — sour cream, creamy cotija and cream cheese, mixed with fresh tomatoes, onions and jalapeno peppers; and Queso Blanco — Monterey Jack and cotija cheeses combined with green chiles and jalapenos.