Olivia Haver receives Daphne Zepos Research Award for 2025

BROOKLYN, N.Y. - June 11, 2025 - PRLog -- The Daphne Zepos Teaching Endowment (DZTE) announced the recipient of its annual $3000 Daphne Zepos Research Award (DZRA) scholarship to sensory expert and affinage specialist Olivia Haver via instagram in May. She's the fourth recipient of the award since it was established in 2021. Olivia will spend the next year visiting and talking with smaller cheesemakers that have their own cave based cheese aging spaces.

"I want to visit cheesemakers that have built their own aging spaces and spent their own money. I want new cheesemakers to learn from the challenges others have faced," says Haver.

"Olivia has the right amount of experience and curiosity to deliver a 'how-to guide' for makers of all sizes and experience levels," says DZTE Operations Manager Tom Perry.

About Olivia Haver:

Olivia Haver has been in the cheese community for 10 plus years. She started as a cheesemonger in Red Bank, NJ. Her path next led her to Greensboro, VT and Jasper Hill Farm. A 3 month stay turned into a 6 year journey of affinage, sensory evaluation, & a love of data analysis.

In 2021 Olivia moved to Pennsylvania to work at The Farm at Doe Run. She re-imagined the affinage program, built a quality and sensory program. Her efforts contributed to the team's win of the 2023 ACS Competition Best of Show Award and 2024 World Championship Cheese Contest World Champion Second Runner-Up.

Her passion for education has led her to present at multiple  ACS conferences. She was also part of the inaugural  American Cheese Society Certified Cheese Sensory Evaluation class in 2022.

Olivia is now settled in Waitsfield, VT at von Trapp Farmstead. You can find her cheese science account on instagram @_cheesebuds_ .

About the Organization

The Daphne Zepos Teaching Endowment (DZTE) aims to grow a team of cheese professionals who teach about the history, culture and techniques in making, aging and selling cheese. Each year recipients are chosen to learn about cheese. The recipients share their learnings with the cheese community the following year. The Daphne Zepos Teaching Endowment is a 501(c)(3) non-profit.

Learn more at http://dzte.org/

About Daphne

Daphne Zepos was one of the most outspoken, insightful and dynamic advocates for the cause of traditional cheese in the U.S. and around the world. Daphne played a prominent role in nearly every major cheese event in the U.S. and Europe. She lectured, moderated, and presented at the American Cheese Society's Annual conference. She taught at Slow Food's bi-annual Cheese in Bra, Italy, and at courses throughout the country, including the Cheese School of San Francisco and Zingerman's in Ann Arbor. She died in 2012.