International Cheese Awards
It is the oldest cheese kermesse in the world, held for the past 135 years in UK.
Originally celebrating British cheeses only, progressively continental cheeses started to make their appearance and in most recent years, the event gained a true international appellative by accepting cheeses from emerging dairy countries from the four corners of the globe. This is the International Cheese and Dairy Award (ICDA) and the 2024 edition just came to its conclusion in June. More than 5500 cheeses from 38 different countries, including Australia and New Zealand, were entered into the competition with the vision and the ambition to be crowned the best cheese in the world. A team of 250 cheese international professionals comprised of cheesemakers, dairy scientists, writers, affineurs, mongers, buyers, were split into panels of two or three judges and they had the complex task to taste and score all those cheese entries in one day! As the competition progressed, bronze, silver and gold medals were assigned to each cheese category and, by the end of the day, the consensus was to proclaim the highest scoring cheese, the UK made Long Clawson’s Stilton, as the Supreme Winner.
New Zealand cheeses from 10 producers won big with a combined effort of 10 gold, 9 silver and 10 bronze medals. Two additional trophies were awarded for best in category. An amazing result achieved equally by large commercial producers like Fonterra and Open Country Dairy and small boutique familiar brands like Over the Moon Cheese, Hohepa Cheese and Meyer Gouda Cheese. Congratulations to you all!
As the New Zealand Ambassador for the ICDA Association, my role is to promote the event and support as many New Zealand cheesemakers as possible to enter this annual competition. Over many years, the advocacy of participating to international cheese awards has demolished the logistic and commercial barriers that historically stopped small artisan producers from sending their cheeses to these events. Once a luxury of few large corporate producers, these days it has become easier and more affordable for the small farmhouse operation to participate to these international competitions.
The question I am often posed from NZ cheesemakers is: “Why should I enter my cheese to the ICDA competition? The 3 answers to that one question are simple. First, it is an opportunity to access new markets. We live in an era of globalization where free trade agreements are stipulated and continually endorsed with the aim to create industry stimuli. Exporting to foreign countries is becoming easier and NZ cheese producers can be competitive in overseas markets with cheese crafting excellences and superb quality. International awards offer the opportunity to showcase the cheese to retail group buyers and industry influencers. These professionals will help to create a pulling import model rather than a hit and miss pushing export model.
The second part of the answer is the incentive behind an internal continuous improvement program. The cheese entries will be tasted and scored by expert judges with in-depth knowledge of cheese styles and trained to recognise disguised defects. The judging score sheets often are returned to the cheesemaker with valuable feedback notes on how to tweak recipes, maturation processes and even wrapping foils.
Least but not last, the well-deserved bragging rights. International accolades won with hard work and sacrifices can be shared with family, friends, colleagues and customers. A medal winner logo displayed next to the cheese name will always offer a distinguishing point of difference to ultimately influence the consumer buying decision. With positive outcomes all around, the ICDA already welcomes New Zealand producers to enter their premium creations into the 2025 event to compete against the best cheeses in the world.
Franco Sessa, ICDA Ambassador & The Grand Gourmand Director
