Cream of the crop recognised at the Australian Grand Dairy Awards

Hosted by Dairy Australia and the Royal Agriculture Societies, the 25th Australian Grand Dairy Awards were held in Melbourne last week.

The annual awards are designed to acknowledge excellence and innovation across 18 dairy product classes. Judged by a panel of Australia’s food and dairy experts, the winners represented each Australian state across categories such as cheese, ice cream, milk, yoghurt, butter and gelato.

Victoria’s Berrys Creek Gourmet Cheese Oak Blue claimed the prestigious Grand Champion Cheese title and Queensland’s artisan gelato shop Milani Minus Eight Degrees was crowned as Grand Champion Dairy, for its Peanut Caramel Gelato.

Owners Barry Charlton and Cheryl Hulls from Berrys Creek Gourmet Cheeses said the award was a welcome surprise.

“We are honoured to have been acknowledged on this occasion. Our Oak Blue is a crowd favourite among our customers, and this award is a testament to the hard work of the whole team to bring the best cheese to Victoria and Australia,” Charlton said.

Dairy Australia Head of Marketing Glenys Zucco said the Australian Grand Dairy Awards is a longstanding legacy of Dairy Australia.

“For 25 years, Dairy Australia has recognised the best of the best in Australian dairy. This year, we are pleased to have introduced a new partnership with the Royal Agricultural Societies to further strengthen the delivery of awards and ensure they remain the premier dairy awards within Australia,” Zucco said.

“We continue to be impressed by the quality of the entries year on year. This year was no exception.”

The awards saw 380 entrants across 18 categories judged on flavour, aroma, texture, body and visual appearance to determine the finest products. The award-winning products will be allowed to include the blue and gold medal on pack.

2024 Australian Grand Dairy Award winners

The full list of champions can be found below:

2024 Champion Class	Product name	State
Grand Champion Dairy Product	Milani Minus Eight Degrees Peanut Caramel Gelato	Qld
Grand Champion Cheese	Berrys Creek Gourmet Cheese Oak Blue	Vic
Flavoured Dairy Drink	Sharma’s Kitchen Milk Badam	NSW
Flavoured Cheese	Riverina Dairy Basil Infused Haloumi	NSW
Modified Milk	Norco Lactose Free Full Cream Milk	NSW
Washed/Mixed Rind Cheese	Woombye Blackall Gold	Qld
Fresh Unripened Cheese	La Casa Del Formaggio Haloumi	SA
White Mould Cheese	Coal River Farm Ashed Brie	Tas
Semi Hard/Eye Cheese	Saputo Dairy Australia, Heidi Farm Tilsit	Tas
Cheddar Cheese	TasFoods Limited, Pyengana Traditional Cloth Matured Cheddar	Tas
Cheddar Cheese	TasFoods Limited, Pyengana Traditional Cloth Matured Cheddar	Tas
Butter, Flavoured Butter or Butter Blend	Fonterra Brands Australia, Duck River Premium Butter Tasmania	Tas
Hard Cheese	Floridia Pecorino Pepato	Vic
Blue Cheese	Berrys Creek Gourmet Cheese Oak Blue	Vic
Goat’s/Sheep’s/Buffalo Milk Cheese	Berrys Creek Gourmet Cheese Riverine Blue	Vic
Cream	Bulla Crème Fraîche	Vic
Natural Yoghurt	Mundella Greek Natural Yoghurt	WA
Flavoured Yoghurt	Mundella Greek Honey Yoghurt	WA
Milk	Lactalis Australia - Harvey Fresh, Farmhouse Gold Unhomogenised Milk	WA
Ice Cream	The Standard Market Company, Lindt 70% Chocolate Ice Cream	Qld
Champion Dairy	Gelato Milani Minus Eight Degrees Peanut Caramel Gelato	Qld

Image credit: iStock.com/ValentynVolkov