A farmer's pride as our dairy foods pick up over 50 awards
We may need to make room on our trophy case, after picking up over 50 awards at this year’s Dairy Industry Association of Australia (DIAA) Australian and Victorian Dairy Product Awards.
Since the Awards began in 2008, our dairy foods have consistently shone bright, recognised each year for their exceptional quality.
Eleven years on and it’s no different – we were awarded 11 ‘gold’ and 49 ‘silver’ awards by the DIAA in this year’s program.
Among the gongs earned this year, we were again awarded the Arthur E Hacquoil Memorial Gold Medallion for the highest scoring bulk butter, which is made at our Cobden site in western Victoria. We also picked up the Merck Award for the highest scoring semi hard cheese, which is made at our Wynyard site in Tasmania.
In the Victorian Awards, we took home the Vic Stafford Perpetual Cup and Award for the highest scoring salted butter, which is made at our Cobden site; the Amcor Flexibles Asia Pacific- NZ Award for the highest scoring cheddar cheese mile/semi matured, which is made at our Stanhope site in northern Victoria; as well as the GEA Award for the highest scoring powder, which comes from our Cobden site.
Fonterra Australia’s General Manager of Manufacturing Operations, Rob Howell, says it’s humbling that our dairy foods have been consistently recognised by the industry experts.
“We’re so pleased that our dairy foods have won so many accolades over the years. But, it really does all start at the farmgate – these awards would not be possible without the high-quality milk from our farmers across the region because this is what makes great-tasting, superior-quality dairy food day-in and day-out,” says Rob.
Camperdown farmer and one of Fonterra’s suppliers, Chris Place, says that it was fantastic to hear the news that some of the winning dairy foods were made at Fonterra’s Cobden site, which is just minutes down the road from his farm.
“My family has supplied Fonterra for nearly 100 years, and I’m incredibly proud to say that the milk from my farm goes into these award-winning dairy foods.
“As you can imagine, a huge amount of effort not only goes into producing the milk, but also ensuring consistent quality throughout the year. This makes the awards even more special, knowing our hard work is resulting in top-notch dairy that people love,” says Chris.
The latest haul of awards was won across a number of categories, including butter, spreads, cheese, fresh milk, cream and powders, and included some of our leading brands, Western Star™ and Duck River™ butters, Perfect Italiano™, and Australian Dairies™ milk powder.
We might have to expand our trophy case even further next year as our gold medal winners will be front and centre at the Dairy Australia Grand Dairy Awards held in early 2020.