Australia’s best dairy and cheese products have been awarded at this year’s Australian Grand Dairy Awards, held in Melbourne last week.
Victoria took home the highest number of awards on the evening, with eight different products named as champions of their categories by a 12-strong judging panel.
This year, over 400 products across 18 categories were taste-tested and critiqued to determine the finest Australian dairy produce.
The Victorian winners included Montefiore Cheese Australia, Apostle Whey Cheese, Floridia Cheese, That’s Amore Cheese, Jalna Dairy Foods, Dooley’s Ice Cream, Fritz Gelato and Fonterra Brands.
Australian Grand Dairy Awards chief judge Russell Smith spoke highly of Victoria’s dairy producers.
“Victoria did very well [but] of course Victoria produces 70 per cent of Australia’s milk, so that was not surprising,” Mr Smith said.
Australian Grand Dairy Awards convener, Alexandra Kury, Dairy Australia, said it was particularly impressive to see such great produce tested during a difficult year.
“The dairy industry has recently been through challenging times, including significant drought, so to see such high quality products across the board this year was phenomenal and a testament to Australian producers,” Ms Kury said.
In addition to the 18 category champions, two grand champions were awarded for being the overall highest scoring dairy product and cheese.
Those winners were Western Australian producer, Mundella Foods, for their Greek Honey Yoghurt, and Tasmania’s Lion Dairy and Drinks for their King Island Dairy Roaring Forties Blue Cheese.
The Australian Grand Dairy Awards opened voting to the public with a People’s Choice Award.
Queensland producer, Maleny Dairies, was recognised as the people’s pick with their Farmer’s Choice Non Homogenised Full Cream Milk proving most popular.
Celebrating its 20th year, the Australian Grand Dairy Awards is the most prestigious dairy awards in the country, highlighting the quality of Australia’s top dairy products.