From the ripe age of twelve, Virginia Saputo spent her summers alongside  her father analyzing raw milk for the family business – Les Fromages  Saputo Cheese Ltd.   Virginia’s responsibilities and job titles ranged  from laboratory technician; quality control and inspections; organizing conferences and being the keynote  speaker on product knowledge and coaching the sales force  cross-country; marketing coordinator; sales rep for hotel accounts;  training and development director;  senior production planning coordinator;  senior executive; research and development. 

 Having built a solid foundation Virginia created her own company  Laiterie Natricia Dairy specializing in goat milk food products.  Virginia designed the first state of the art goat milk manufacturing  facility in North America in 1998. This made her a pioneer in the new up  and coming goat cheese industry of Canada. Here, Virginia created  world-class products. Virginia’s goat cheese won international awards  including: 

 • The World Championship Cheese Contest 

• The Western Canadian Grand Prix,

• The British Empire Cheese Competition

In  addition, Virginia’s handcrafted French style goat milk cheeses  received praise from the dairy industry, executive chefs on a global  scale and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth of England.

Today  Virginia calls herself a cheese sommelier, and owns the "What Cheese"  website where she features a rich knowledge of World Cheeses and shares  inspirational cheese pairings with food and wine.

Virginia  attended ITAA, Institute de Technologie Agriculture et Agroalimentaire  in St. Hyacinthe, Quebec where she received certification in Milk  Technology. In addition, she attended the University of Guelph where she  received a certificate in Cheese Technology. Virginia also  attended ENILIA, Ecole Nationale de L’Industrie Laitiere  Agroalimentaire, Surgeres in the Poitou-Charentes Region of France,  where she continued her education and specialized in the Technology of  Goat Milk and traditional goat milk French cheeses.

Virginia volunteered many years  as chairwoman for the Governing Board of Directors of the Rosemount  Technology Center, which specializes in adult technical  career education.