Arla Foods sweeps the board at the Global Cheese Show picking up 52 awards
Arla Foods Taw Valley creamery also crowned 2014 Danisco Grand Prix Champion
Arla Foods creameries have been rewarded once again for the outstanding cheeses they produce, this time at the Global Cheese Awards which took place on Saturday, 13th September. Arla Food’s creameries, including Taw Valley, Lockerbie, Llandrynog, Tuxford & Tebbutt, Trevarrian and produce from Denmark, successfully walked away with an incredible 52 awards between them.
Competing against quality cheeses from around the world, Arla Foods creameries won an array of highly sought after awards most notably the industry coveted 2014 Danisco Grand Prix Trophy which was picked up by North Tawton-based creamery Taw Valley. Awarded on a points-based basis following the culmination of the summer season, at a series of shows such as the Cheshire County Show and Great Yorkshire Show, the Danisco Grand Prix Trophy was presented in recognition for being the most consistent maker of finest quality mature cheddar.
Taw Valley’s win of the Danisco trophy is a culmination of successes achieved throughout 2014, highlights of which include attaining the Supreme Champion award for Vintage Cheddar at the Devon
County Show and being crowned the Reserve Champion for its Mature Cheddar at the Nantwich International Cheese Awards.
In addition to this fantastic success, Arla Foods creameries were recognised with further gold awards for their ‘Whole Blue Stilton’ and ‘White Mild Cheddar’ amongst others from their Tuxford & Tebbutt and Lockerbie creameries respectively. In total, Arla Foods walked away with 52 awards including 2 Champion awards, 3 Highly Commended acknowledgments, 17 Gold awards, 15 Silver awards and 15 Bronze awards; matching the success from 2013.
Matt Walker, Senior Marketing Cheese Director at Arla Foods commented: “This year has already been a great year for us with award wins for our cheese products, so to have received more accolades at the recent Global Cheese Awards is fantastic. We’re especially thrilled that one of our creameries’ took home the 2014 Danisco Grand Prix Trophy; this is the first time Taw Valley has won the award since 2008. All our creameries pride themselves on the quality of cheeses produced and to be recognised at another great show is a fantastic achievement. Without the dedication and expertise of our cheesemakers, winning these awards just wouldn’t be possible.”
Arla Foods is a global dairy company and co-operative owned by 13,500 dairy farmers circa 3,000 of whom are British.
Dating back to 1881, Arla’s purpose is to secure the highest value for its farmers’ milk, while creating opportunities for their growth. With production facilities in 11 countries and sales offices in a further 30, Arla is the world’s sixth largest dairy company and largest supplier of organic dairy products. Arla has a total of more than 18,000 colleagues and its products are sold under the well-known brands Arla®, Lurpak® and Castello® in more than 100 countries.
Arla Foods UK is the largest dairy company in the country and is home to leading dairy brands Anchor, Cravendale, and Lactofree. It processes 3.5 billion litres of milk a year and has a turnover of £2.2 billion. As well as being number one in fresh liquid milk, butter, spreads and cream, Arla is the UK’s largest cheese manufacturer. It has also built the world’s largest fresh milk facility located at Aylesbury and has plans for it to be the first zero carbon site of its kind. The UK business has a team of approximately 4,000 colleagues located at its dairies, distribution centres and head office.