Wisconsin Dairy Products Association (WDPA), Middleton, Wis., said the judging for the 2018 World Dairy Expo Championship Dairy Product Contest will take place on Aug. 21-Aug. 23 in the Culinary Arts Dept. at Madison Area Technical College. WDPA is sponsoring the 16th annual contest.

“During the past 15 years, we have seen a truly remarkable level of support by the North America dairy industry for this contest,” said WDPA Executive Director Brad Legreid. “Since this contest is the only one of its kind in North America, the industry has readily seen its inherent value and has quickly embraced it.

“That is reflected in the fact that a near-record number [of] 1,400 products were entered into this year’s contest,” he added. “These products include ice cream, cheese, yogurt, butter, sour cream, fluid milk, etc.”

The World Dairy Expo Championship Dairy Product Contest is the only North American contest to include all dairy products, WDPA said

“This unique quality has resulted in extraordinary marketing opportunities for those companies who take first place in their respective categories,” Legreid said. “Wisconsin Dairy Products Association is excited to be sponsoring the 2018 World Dairy Expo Championship Dairy Product Contest. It will afford manufacturers of other dairy products — who ordinarily do not have the opportunity to enter contests — the ability to compete in a prestigious, one-of-a-kind national dairy product contest.”

The winning entries will be auctioned off on Oct. 2 beginning at 5:00 pm at World Dairy Expo. A portion of the proceeds from the contest auction will be used to fund four scholarships, WDPA said. These scholarships will be awarded annually to deserving students pursuing careers in the dairy industry.

For more information, contact WDPA at 608-836-3336 or via email at info@wdpa.net.