Melbourne Royal Dairy Award winners announced

The Melbourne Royal Dairy Awards judges have revealed which Australian products have claimed top honours in this category of the Australian Food Awards. The category has been newly relaunched as part of the Melbourne Royal Australian Food Awards, and it saw judges tasting a myriad of milks, yoghurts, cheeses, butters and ice creams.

According to Brad Jenkins, Melbourne Royal CEO, the Melbourne Royal Dairy Awards date back to the 1870s and provide producers across the country with an opportunity to benchmark goods against the very best. They have also been a launching pad for some of Australia’s most successful food products and brands.

This year, there were 207 entries judged by nine industry experts on the attributes of flavour and aroma, body and texture, presentation, condition and melting.

Medal and trophy winners have the opportunity to use the Melbourne Royal seal of excellence on their product and in marketing.

The winner of the major awards Champion Dairy Producer and Champion Victorian Dairy Producer was Surf Coast-based Gelato Gelato, co-owned by Jo Stevens and Stephanie Lewis, founded in 2016.

Major trophy winners were:

• Champion Dairy Producer: Gelato Gelato (Victoria)
• Champion Victorian Dairy Producer, presented by Agriculture Victoria: Gelato Gelato (Victoria)
• Best Gelato: Gelato Gelato (Victoria) – ‘Gelato Gelato Choc Mint’
• Best Butter: LardAss Butter (Ocean Grove, Victoria) – ‘Black Garlic Cultured Butter’
• Best Cheese: Coal River Farm (Cambridge, Tasmania) – ‘Coal River Farm Blue’
• Best Non-cow Cheese: Woodside Cheese Wrights (Woodside, South Australia) – ‘Kris Lloyd Artisan Goat Persian Feta’
• Best Unflavoured Yoghurt: Bulla Dairy Foods (Derrimut, Victoria) – ‘Bulla Australian Style Natural Yoghurt 160G’
• Best Flavoured Yoghurt: The Yoghurt Co Vic (Carrum Downs, Victoria) – ‘EOSS Vanilla Bean’
• Best Unflavoured Fresh Milk: Ashgrove Cheese (Elizabeth Town, Tasmania) – ‘Ashgrove Non-Homogenised Milk’
• Best Flavoured Fresh Milk: Brownes Foods Operates (Balcatta, Western Australia) – ‘Aldi Champ Iced Coffee Flavoured Milk’
• Best Cream: Inglenook Dairy (Dunnstown, Victoria) – ‘Inglenook Dairy Cream’
• Best Ice Cream: Elato Artisanal Ice Cream (Southbank, Victoria) – ‘Fig Ripple’
• Best Single Serve Ice Cream: Bulla Dairy Foods (Derrimut, Victoria) – ‘Reese’s Peanut Butter Ice Cream Cone 4pk’.

“Nine specialist judges, nine stewards and multiple officials worked hard behind the scenes, and we are very grateful to these individuals for sharing their knowledge and experience to help deliver the Melbourne Royal Dairy Awards to the highest possible standard,” Jenkins said.

The awards were sponsored by Plasdene Glass-Pak and Agriculture Victoria.

Image caption: Judging at the Melbourne Royal Australian Food Awards.