Fonterra cements position as the big cheese!

The co-operative was the big winner at the NZ Champions of Cheese Awards Gala Dinner in Hamilton on Thursday night.

Fonterra’s NZMP Epicure - also sold as Mainland Epicure aged cheddar – took the top title of Woolworths Champion of Champions (Commercial).

The judges described this as “Beautiful! An abundance of calcium lactate, intense good string mature flavour yet well balanced,

and clean. Pleasurable savoury tone, with fruity, sweet and nutty alongside.”

The rest of Fonterra’s haul included trophies for limited edition boutique cheese and commercial cheeses including: Mainland Special Reserve Chilli & Garlic Brie, which won two trophies; NZ Specialist Cheesemakers Association Champion New Cheese and Big Chill

Distribution Champion Fresh Flavour Added Cheese and Anchor Traditional Cream Cheese which collected the trophy for WINTEC Te Pukenga Champion Fresh Unripened Cheese.

Cathy Lang, the master cheesemaker and principal technologist at Fonterra Brands New Zealand Bridge Street site in Eltham, Taranaki, was – for the second time in three years - crowned as the country’s top cheesemaker. To win the coveted MilkTestNZ Champion Cheesemaker title each cheesemaker entered three cheeses of different styles showing their cheesemaking breadth.

Lang showed Kāpiti Artisan Ash Rind White; Kāpiti Artisan Bridge St Blue and Kāpiti Rarama. Lang made a remarkable transition into cheesemaking in 2005 after two decades in veterinary science. Her success is a testament to her ability to blend cheesemaking science with creativity. Since joining Fonterra in 2014 Lang has been instrumental in driving its NZ speciality cheese development, with

her dedication to excellence consistently recognised with numerous national and international accolades.

At the annual awards, 26 trophy winners were announced following an extensive evaluation in early March assessing more than 250 locally produced cheeses, with the finest 187 already honoured with gold, silver and bronze medals.