In this year’s World Dairy Expo (WDE) Championship Dairy Product Contest, a chocolate mascarpone made by Crave Brothers Farmstead Cheese, Waterloo, Wis., was named the Cheese and Butter Grand Champion, while a regular cottage cheese made by Prairie Farms Dairy, Edwardsville, Ill., was named the Grade A Grand Champion. A vanilla bean ice cream produced by Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream, Madison, Wis., meanwhile, was named the Ice Cream Grand Champion. This year’s contest, sponsored and conducted by the Middleton, Wis.-based Wisconsin Dairy Products Association (WDPA), received a near-record number of entries (1,400) for cheese, butter, fluid milk, yogurt, cottage cheese, ice cream, sour cream, sherbet, cultured milk, sour cream dips, whipping cream, whey and other creative/innovative products from dairy processors throughout North America, WDPA said.

“This year's contest was extremely successful, reflecting how much dairy processors have come to embrace this unique and special event," said Brad Legreid, executive director, WDPA. "As the only all-dairy product contest of its kind in the world, the dairy industry has quickly learned the myriad benefits accrued from participating in the contest.

“Winning companies parlay their success into unprecedented marketing and retail sales opportunities, while other companies receive valuable insights from the 50 highly trained sensory experts [who] judge their products," he added.

Judging was held on Aug. 17-19 at MATC Culinary Arts School in Madison, Wis., WDPA noted.

On Sept. 28, the contest’s auction will be held at World Dairy Expo in Madison, at which time all category first place winners will be auctioned off. A portion of the proceeds from the contest auction will be used to fund scholarships awarded annually to deserving students pursuing careers in the dairy industry, WDPA said.

For more information about the contest and auction, call 608-836-3336.