Umbuzi Cheese Stands Alone
August 17, 2012 | 1 min to read
Just months after becoming the first Florida goat dairy to be certified Grade A by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Buckingham’s Umbuzi Farm & Dairy has earned national acclaim.
Umbuzi’s cream cheese took first place in the open category of fresh, unripened goat’s milk cheeses at the American Cheese Society’s 2012 competition held in Raleigh, N.C., earlier this month. Umbuzi beat out dairies from Vermont and Wisconsin to claim the top honor. Its feta took third place in the goat’s milk feta division, and its chevre also took third place in the category of hand-shaped fresh goat cheeses.
“To be up there and be rated in a national competition, it’s so awesome I can’t even put it into words,” said Umbuzi cheese maker Jim Ellis, who worked in construction before helping to start the dairy with his stepfather Larry Woodis and local businessman Bonne Posma about two years ago.
To read the rest of the story, please go to: Marco Island Sun Times