Haul of awards for co-op at cheese show

Dairy co-op Milk Link has scooped a number of awards at this year’s Nantwich International Cheese Show.

It won 48 in total, including 21 golds. Those included the titles of Reserve Supreme Champion, UK Supreme Champion, and Reserve UK Supreme Champion.

The Taw Valley creamery in Devon was awarded a record 34 awards (including 17 gold), while Milk Link’s other sites also picked up a number of awards.

“This number of awards really marks the culmination of the success which has been building throughout the show season, and which is so important to the British dairy industry and in particular our farmers,” chief executive Neil Kennedy said.

Other awards at the show included:

• The Supreme Champion award went to an organic parmesan cheese distributed in the UK by Bradbury & Son and made by the Ferrari Dairy in Lodi, south of Milan, Italy. It has been stocked in Waitrose as own brand organic parmesan and also branded Ferrari Organic Parmesan for the past five years

• Farmhouse cheesemaker, Belton Cheese, won 12 gold’s, 10 silver’s and five bronze’s. It was also presented with five trophies, including an award for Best Outright English Cheese

• Collier’s Powerful Welsh Cheddar was crowned Best Welsh Cheese

• Isle of Man Creamery won the silver International Cheese Award for a Single Cheese with additives