EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – Prairie Farms Dairy continued a winning tradition of multiple first place finishes and a Grand Championship at one of the most prestigious dairy judging competitions in the country; the World Dairy Expo Championship Dairy Product Contest held in Madison, Wisconsin. Prairie Farms and its family of companies including Hiland Dairy won a combined 31 awards including:19 first place championship trophies; 5 second place medallions; 7 third place medallions; and a grand championship. The awards included 2 perfect and 5 near-perfect scores.
“The World Dairy Expo is the showcase dairy judging event of the year and I’m proud to say our locally produced products brought home some big wins,” said Rebecca Leinenbach, Vice President of Marketing and Communications for Prairie Farms. “Our dairy farm families work hard to bring world-class products to the consumer table and these awards are proof of their commitment to quality.”
Prairie Farms made several strong showings with cheese and ice cream including cottage cheeses from its
Carbondale, Illinois plant winning first place and a grand championship with 2% Lowfat Cottage Cheese in the Lowfat and No Fat Cottage Cheese Category. No Fat Cottage Cheese was close behind earning second place in the category. Other big cheese wins included Luana Swiss Cheese taking top honors in the Swiss Styles
Category and Caves of Faribault Jeffs’ Select® Gouda taking first place in the Open Class Hard Cheese Category. Prairie Farms Cream Cheese took the top spot in the Plain Cream Cheese (including Neufchâtel) category. Premium Small Batch Peanut Butter Banana Ice Cream took the first place trophy in the Open Class Ice Cream with Peanut Butter category. Philly Vanilla Ice Cream took first in its category.
Additional big wins for Prairie Farms included first and second place with UHT Salted Caramel Milk and UHT
1% Chocolate Milk in the UHT Milk & Aseptic Milk Category. UHT Salted Caramel also took first place in the
Open Class Flavored Milk Category. UHT 36% Whipping Cream was voted tops in the Heavy Whipping Cream Category. Ranch Dip took first place in the Open Sour Cream Based Dips category. In the Whey category, Prairie Farms’ Luana plant brought home top honors with Sweet Whey Powder.
Prairie Farms’ partner Hiland Dairy also earned top spots in the competition. Hiland took first with Whole
Chocolate Milk and Bulgarian Buttermilk. Hiland Strawberry Yogurt took first place in its category and Lowfat Blueberry Yogurt followed up with another first in that category. Hiland Dairy also made strong showings with sour cream including Natural Sour Cream earning a first place in the category and Salsa Dip with top honors in the Sour Cream Based Dips – Southwest category.
The World Dairy Expo Championship Dairy Product Contest, sponsored by the Wisconsin Dairy Products Association, is a prestigious all-dairy judging contest for North America. Over 1500 product entries from across the country competed in 85 contest classes including cheese, fluid milk, yogurt, butter, sour cream, dairy dips, ice cream, cottage cheese and whey products. Products that win awards at the World Dairy Expo are given unique opportunities to market themselves as “best of the best.” An awards ceremony will be held at the World Dairy Expo Championship Dairy Product Contest Auction on October 1, 2019. To see the full list of 2019 topthree winners at the World Dairy Expo, click on this link.
Prairie Farms Dairy, Inc is one of the largest and most successful dairy cooperatives in the Midwest, with over 800 farm families, 6000 employees, 44 manufacturing plants, over 100 distribution facilities and annual sales of over $3 billion. Prairie Farms is a nationally recognized leader in the dairy industry and is known for setting the standard for milk flavor innovations and producing award-winning milk, cheese, and cultured dairy products. With headquarters in Edwardsville, Ill., the Prairie Farms distribution footprint covers over 30 percent of the United States; products are available in grocery chains, mass merchandiser stores, club stores, convenience stores, dollar stores, drug stores, schools, food service outlets and warehouse distribution centers. Prairie Farms charitable giving program, Our Caps, Your Cause, supports a variety of non-profit organizations.
