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New Zealand cheesemakers awoke to news they could lose the rights to use key cheese names due to the free trade deal announced overnight with Europe.
New Zealand cheesemakers celebrated their annual awards last night in Hamilton but woke up this morning facing the potential loss of key cheese names.
A free trade deal announced with Europe overnight will see the loss of generic names like feta although negotiators have agreed on a nine year lead time for this change.
The FTA also allows Europe to restrict new names in the future.
New Zealand Specialist Cheesemakers Association board member Daniel Shields says New Zealand has bowed to EU pressure and given way on key cheese names.
“It’s a mixed bag for New Zealand’s specialty cheesemakers.
“Particularly concerning is that Europe has succeeded in including the right to restrict new names at a future date.
“This creates uncertainty and makes it hard for New Zealand operators to invest in their businesses with confidence when the threat of a loss of equity in the intellectual property of traditional cheese names looms.”
NZSCA chair Catherine McNamara saying local cheesemakers are worried about their future.
“The loss of a generic name like Feta gives us grave concerns that other generic traditional cheese names such as Havarti and Haloumi will soon be up for discussion too.
“It creates an uncertain environment for New Zealand specialist cheesemakers. We are now calling on the government to support industry and to work with us to create a New Zealand naming system which can be protected and invested in.”
The trophies awarded at last night’s gala awards dinner followed judging of more than 380 cheeses from across NZ at Wintec in late February. Master Judge Jason Tarrant led a panel of 36 judges to assess the cheeses.
The four Supreme Champions are:
Open Country Dairy Ltd, Open Country Young Cheddar (Aged less than 6 months); Countdown Champion of Champion Cheese Award – Commercial.
Little River Estate, Little River Mt Richmond; New World Champion of Champion Cheese Award - Mid-sized.
Craggy Range Sheep Dairy, Maraetotara Manchego; Puhoi Valley Cheese Champion of Champions Cheese Award – Boutique.
Cathy Lang, Fonterra Co-operative Group; MilkTestNZ Champion Cheesemaker.
The basis for making great cheese is good milk, says the owner of Banks Peninsula's Barry's Bay Cheese, which was named Champion of Champons Mid-Size, for its traditional Aged Gouda, at this year's NZ Champions of Cheese Awards.
DairyNZ Chair Tracy Brown has seen a lot of change since she first started out in the dairy sector, with around one-third of dairy farmers now women.
Castle Ridge Station has been named the Regional Supreme Winner at the Canterbury Ballance Farm Environment Awards.
The South Island Dairy Event has announced Jessica Findlay as the recipient of the BrightSIDE Scholarship Programme, recognising her commitment to furthering her education and future career in the New Zealand dairy industry.
New Zealand and Chile have signed a new arrangement designed to boost agricultural cooperation and drive sector success.
New DairyNZ research will help farmers mitigate the impacts of heat stress on herds in high-risk regions of the country.
Budou are being picked now in Bridge Pā, the most intense and exciting time of the year for the Greencollar team – and the harvest of the finest eating grapes is weeks earlier than expected.
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