Somerdale International is reinforcing its US sales team with the appointment of Alison Velasco as its new East Coast sales manager. This senior level position comes at an exciting time of growth and development for Somerdale as it seeks to enhance its position as the number one specialist importer of British and Irish cheese into the United States, the company says.

Before joining Somerdale, Velasco spent the last 11 years at an importer of cheeses and speciality foods from Italy, Spain, Portugal, Croatia and Switzerland, most recently  as its director of business development. Prior to that post, having started her career on a Murray’s Cheese counter and then worked as a private chef, she was a cheese specialist at Whole Foods Market in the US.