A panel of expert judges from the dairy industry judged Dairygold’s Grated Mature Cheddar as best in class as it scooped the prestigious Bradbury & Son Award. It also picked up The David Dunn Memorial Trophy for a ‘Display of Cheese on Cheese Board’, and a Gold award for its Dairygold Cheddar (1.8% salt) in the ‘Cheese with health benefits – hard cheese category.

Dairygold’s 1.8% salt cheddar is part of a recently launched range of cheeses which balance the consumer’s desire for taste and functionality with the need to reduce fat and salt levels in our diet. Aidan Fitzsimons, Director of Innovation, explained: “Consumers want to eat healthy food without compromising on flavour. This award recognises the achievements of our NPD and Operations teams in delivering against both these requirements.”

Dairygold’s outstanding achievements at this year’s awards continued as the company was also awarded a Silver award for its Queso Tierno Light. This cheese has been very successful in the Spanish market and mirrors the traditional Spanish young cheese. It’s characterized by influences of goat’s and sheep milk, while offering a reduced fat content. Dairygold was also awarded Bronze for its Dairygold Mature Cheddar, as well as being very highly commended in three other classes.

Now in its 114th year, this year’s competition was greater than ever, attracting over 3,000 entrants from 24 countries.

Richard Paul, Show Chairman, said: “We had record entries and the standard across the board was extremely high – our panel of 140 judges really did have their work cut out to make their selections.”

Dairygold Food Ingredient’s Group Commercial Director, Chris Edge said: “We’re absolutely delighted with the results at Nantwich as it is testament to our heritage, hard work and dedication that goes into our cheese making.

“We pride ourselves on manufacturing from the finest natural ingredients, using generations of cheesemaking craft and expertise to provide the very best products for our customers. While Dairygold is well known as a major dairy ingredients supplier, we will continue to innovate with our active NPD agenda to meet future taste and flavour preferences.”

The results at Nantwich follow an extremely successful few months for Dairygold Food Ingredients as it recently saw success in Wisconsin, USA at the World Cheese Awards with its Block Mature Cheddar (aged 12-24 months), ahead of entries from specialist producers and commercial manufacturers as far afield as New Zealand.

It has also launched a new retail brand, The Imokilly Cheese Company, which debuted at the Nantwich International Cheese Show. One of its 12-strong range of premium speciality cheeses has already achieved Protected Designation of Origin Imokilly Regato, again testament to the company’s craft and expertise.

For more details on Dairygold Food Ingredients, call 0870 766 9563 or e-mail sales@dairygoldfoodingredients.com