Three of Lion Dairy & Drinks’ specialty cheese brands King Island Dairy, Heidi Farm and Tasmanian Heritage have been shortlisted for the 2019 Australian Grand Dairy Awards.
The prestigious annual awards represent the best of the dairy business, across all categories. To be eligible to enter the awards all products must have won a gold medal at a state based championship, ensuring that competition remains of a high standard.
A rigorous judging process sees two panels of highly qualified cheese experts taste test all 400 product entries to determine a shortlist of just 57 finalists.
Judging rooms are climate controlled to ensure they are the optimum temperature for tastings, with all distinguishable packaging removed to ensure an entirely objective judging process. This year, five of Lion Dairy & Drinks’ special cheeses have been shortlisted, across three specialty cheese product categories. Lion Dairy & Drinks’ 2018 Australian Grand Dairy Award finalists are:
Semi-hard and eye cheese:
Heidi Farm Tilsit and Heidi Farm Raclette
Washed rind cheese:
Tasmanian Heritage Red Square and King Island Dairy Stormy Washed Rind
Blue cheese:
King Island Roaring Forties Blue
The awards began in 1999 to recognise and reward the excellence and innovation of Australian produce, and to acknowledge the high quality of the Australian dairy industry. Lion Dairy & Drinks has a long history of success with the awards, with many brands across the Lion Dairy & Drinks portfolio making it into the award’s Hall of Fame.
“It is an honour for our products to be recognised again by the Australian Grand Dairy Awards, this time with three of our specialty cheese brands shortlisted for awards”, said Cameron Bruce, the General Manager of Cheese at Lion Dairy & Drinks.
“If you haven’t tried the nominated cheeses for yourself, I encourage you to pick them up at your local supermarket and put together a delicious platter!
“We’re extremely proud of the work our specialty cheese team puts in to create products of such a high standard, and it is great to see the hard work recognised.”
The Australian Grand Dairy Awards will be announced in January 2019. For more information, visit: http://www.legendairy.com.au/dairy-foods/agda.