Dairy Processor News

Dean, LOL top WDE contest winners

Land O’Lakes Dairy Foods of Kiel, Wis., was selected as the Cheese and Butter Grand Champion for its cheddar cheese, and Dean Foods of Indiana won the Grade A and Ice Cream Grand Champion Award for its regular cottage cheese in the World Dairy Expo Championship Dairy Product Contest.

This year’s event, sponsored by the Wisconsin Dairy Products Association, received a record number of 405 entries for cheese, butter, fluid milk, yogurt, cottage cheese, ice cream, sour cream, sherbet, buttermilk, sour cream dips, whipping cream, dried whey and innovative products from throughout the United States.

“It is extremely gratifying to see how dairy manufacturers have embraced this contest,” WDPA Director Brad Legreid told the Wisconsin Ag Connection. “Due to the tremendous support from dairy companies throughout North America, the World Dairy Expo Championship Dairy Product Contest has averaged an amazing 30 percent annual rate of growth over its first six years.”

Judging was held last week at UW-Madison’s Babcock Hall and the Madison Area Technical College Culinary School. The next step is the contest's auction, which will be held at World Dairy Expo in Madison on Sept. 30. All the top winners will be auctioned off, with a portion of the proceeds being used to fund the Dr. Robert Bradley Scholarship Fund.

Dairy Foods/Dairy Field Reports sponsors the Grade A and Ice Cream Grand Champion Award; the Cheese and Butter Grand Champion Award is sponsored by Cheese Market News.

A complete list of the winners can be found under the “Championship Contest” tab on the WDPA Web site.