April 19, 2023 

Oregon Dairy Industries Elliker Cheese Tray – Salem Convention Center, OR 

People’s Choice Awards 

Today over 200 people from across the dairy industry gathered at the ODI Elliker Cheese Tray, the social finale and fund raiser of the 111th Annual ODI Conference The cheese tray has long been a closing feature of the conference for participants to gather, socialize, and enjoy both local and international cheeses accompanied by fine Oregon wines and beers. Beyond providing relaxed networking time, a goal of the cheese tray is raising funds to support the ODI Bodyfelt Scholarship endowment for OSU Food Science students. This year’s silent and on-line auctions grossed more than $6165 with an additional $1000 in sponsorships. 

A recent addition to the cheese tray has been the Peoples Choice Awards where each attendee is supplied with 3 poker chips to vote for their 3 favorite cheeses from the 36 cheeses offered in 2023. This year’s most popular cheeses were: 

1st Place - Cougar Gold from Washington State University, Pullman, WA 

2nd Place- Harbison from Jasper Hills Farm, Greensboro, VT 

3rd place- Up-In-Smoke from River’s Edge Chevre`, Three Ring Farm, Logsden, OR 

Marc Bates, cheeseguy@charter.net 

Marc Bates,