The easy answer to the first question is “The price is set by what the market will bear.” Today’s consumers are, for the most part, looking for bargains, even with specialty cheese. Cheese is largely handmade from the birth of a new calf, which will someday provide the milk, to the Cheesemonger who will care for it before it finds a home… and everyone who religiously cares for the cheese on its journey to your table.
I have attended several cheese makes over the last decade and every time I marvel at the amount of human labor that goes into the process. The make is the beginning of the transformation of the milk into the cheese we enjoy. After the make, it may be two years before a cheese reaches our tables and everyday of that time, a human is looking, touching, caring and coaxing that cheese to maturity.
First, of course, are the cows who produce the quality milk that is the cornerstone of the cheesemaking process. Without healthy and well-cared-for cows, there would be no cheese.
Two weeks ago I was one of five guests of the US Comte Association on its Summer Press Tour of the Jura region of France. We visited farms, cheesemaking facilities and aging facilities where the milk of the Montbeliarde and Simmental cows becomes the iconic French Cheese, Comte AOP. They wined us; they dined us. It was an amazing look into the world of making Comte AOP cheese and the many thousands who contribute to its creation.
Over the next several days I will share those magical days in the Jura Mountains with you through my experiences and videos trying to answer the second question, “Why doesn’t this cheese cost more?”
Tomorrow, I will explore the history of Comte AOP and the PDO regulations that govern and protect how it is made.
In addition to being an American Cheese Society Certified Cheese Professional, I am a Certified ServSafe Food Production Manager with certifications that also include ServSafe Certified Instructor and Proctor. I am available for cheese events, cheese program development, cheese training, food safety training and 3rd party food safety auditing. See 
my About Me and Resume pages for more details or call me at 360 921 9908 to discuss availability.
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