Over the past hundred years, we have seen remarkable developments in cheese science including aspects like the characterization of milk proteins, rennet coagulation explained, defined starter cultures, advent of genomic techniques, detailed knowledge of the biochemistry of ripening, and control of functionality. These developments have helped to fuel the worldwide growth of the cheese industry, as well as the tremendous increase in the size of manufacturing plants. The needs of industry depend on the country, as well as the type of company, and its cheese types. Some ongoing industry needs are greater efficiency and consistency of production, better control of flavor, development of targeted flavors, cheesemaking processes that provide highest quality whey, and cheese with improved health/wellness characteristics. Unfortunately, industry is often unaware of the latest research developments and many feel that most current research efforts cannot be directly applied to meet their individual company needs. Researchers often appear uninterested in addressing industry needs (or they do not have the time to visit plants or have open discussions with them). To bridge this gap we need more opportunities, or structures, that allow industry to engage with researchers, and we need incentives (like funding) for researchers to tackle real industry needs. At our center, we include staff with industry experience in all our research teams, to help bring an applied perspective to projects. Industry problems like quality defects are a useful example where discussions can lead to very challenging research projects that can allow researchers to apply modern techniques to solve an issue, while still generating new scientific understanding. Benefits to industry of greater engagement in the research area include more focused/relevant projects as well as better access to highly trained technical research staff. We live in a time where there is an amazing array of analytical capabilities that are available to answer important scientific questions related to cheese science. How best to exploit this opportunity is a strategic challenge to both researchers and the dairy industry.