Cowgirl Creamery has announced that Amanda Parker has joined Cowgirl Creamery and Tomales Bay Foods as Deputy Managing Director; over the next year, Parker will work with the company’s Founders and Co-Managing Directors Peggy Smith and Sue Conley as they make their way though their professional transitions.
“As a longtime fan of Cowgirl Creamery, I am absolutely thrilled to join Peggy, Sue, and the team behind such a beloved brand,” said Parker, in a press release. “I look forward to bringing my love of our (and our partners’) products, sharing my passion for cheese education and continuing our focus on environmental stewardship and sustainability to co-create the future of an already strong, successful business.”
According to that press release, Parker is a Certified Cheese Professional who possesses a deep knowledge of cheese and the cheese business and has dedicated her professional life to cheese education and accessibility. Parker spent eight years at Murray’s Cheese in New York, making her way from cheesemonger to executive.
In her new role at Cowgirl Creamery, the company noted, Parker is eager to merge her passion for the values and craftsmanship of artisan cheesemaking with innovative thinking around how to make cheese ever more accessible to a wider audience, how to work ever more sustainably, and how to create more opportunities for Cowgirl Creamery’s dairy farmer partners.
“Peggy and I are excited to welcome Amanda Parker to Cowgirl Creamery,” said Conley. “Amanda brings fresh perspective along with cheese business expertise to our seasoned leadership team.”
Parker joined Murray’s as a cheesemonger at the Grand Central Station store just prior to Thanksgiving and even amid the holiday rush found a deep resonance in introducing customers to a variety of cheeses with a combination of tasting, talking, and education. She soon graduated to the role of store manager of Murray’s flagship location in New York’s Greenwich Village—and ultimately joined the executive team where she helped build a partnership with the Kroger Company.
As the company’s Vice President of Business Development, Parker oversaw the expansion of Murray’s national business, opening over 350 cheese kiosks in Kroger stores across America. Parker coordinated product and promotions, marketing and branding, and gave special focus to education of Kroger’s cheese employees, overseeing a program that brought them to Murray’s in New York for hands-on training.
Parker holds an undergraduate degree from Brown University and recently completed her MBA at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, while staying involved in the cheese community through regular teaching engagements at the Cheese School of San Francisco.
We at Deli Market News congratulate Amanda on her new role and wish her and Cowgirl Creamery the best.
