Land O'Lakes cheesemakers from the Kiel Dairy Foods plant won three first place and two other awards during the recent World Championship Cheese Contest.
The cheesemakers received best of class awards for their provolone, one-to-two-year-aged cheddar and Monterey Jack, a second place award for their cheddar aged six months to a year and a third place for the mild cheddar age three to six months.
The World Championship Cheese Contest was held March 5-7 in Madison, Wisc., marking the 29th annual competition. The contest is an objective evaluation of cheeses, and judges award gold, silver and bronze medals to the finest products in 82 classes. Any cheesemaker around the world can compete.
During a technical evaluation of entries, the contest judges use an object measure of cheese defects to select the products in each class that best exemplify perfection for a cheese variety. The highest-scoring cheeses and butters earn a gold medal with silver and bronze medals awarded to the second and third place finishers in each class.
This year's competition, held in even-numbered years since 1958, was judged by an international panel of 40 cheese evaluation experts from 17 countries and 10 U.S. states. This was the first year the public was allowed to sample the entries.
The list of all World Championship Cheese Contest results can be viewed here.
In another national contest, the Spencer, Dairy Foods Plant placed first in two categories and won other awards during the 2011 National Milk Producers Federation Championship Cheese Contest.
The team won first place for its Extra Melt® White American with Jalapeno Pepper Loaf and its Golden Velvet® Loaf. It also received the following recognition:
• Second place for its Sharp American Loaf,
• Fifth Place for its Sliced Process American,
• Seventh Place for its Slice Swiss and
• Tenth Place for its Cheese Product with Jalapeno Peppers.
As part of the same competition, the Denmark, plant received second place for its Reduced Fat Smoked Provolone, and the Kiel plant received the following recognition:
• Second place for its sharp cheddar,
• Third place for its medium cheddar and
• Third place for its extra sharp cheddar.
The contest featured 145 entries in 10 categories and 15 classes and was held during the Joint Annual Meeting in November.
Source: Land O'Lakes
