Specialist Cheesemakers Association

https://www.virtualcheeseawards.com/so/32OtBsRXQ?languageTag=en&cid=6c98df0d-bda6-41a2-a157-d6606052150c

Virtual Cheese Awards 2024 FINAL Wednesday 15th May Welcome to the Virtual Cheese Awards newsletter CALLING BRITISH CHEESEMAKERS Join an illustrious group of British cheese producers who have won Gold medals in the Virtual Cheese Awards and had their cheese noticed by influential buyers. What's the point in entering? Expert feedback: You’ll get liv...

Virtual Cheese Awards 2024 FINAL Wednesday 15th May

Welcome to the Virtual Cheese Awards newsletter

🧀The 2024 Awards are now OPEN🧀

We're excited to announce that we have opened entries for our fifth - fifth!! - Virtual Cheese Awards which celebrates the best of British cheese and the people who work tirelessly behind the cheese scenes.

🏆ENTER HERE https://www.virtualcheeseawards.com/award-categories

After feedback from producers, we have expanded the Artisan Cheese from Own Herd class and split it into 3 classes; Cow milk, Goat milk and Sheep milk. This is a very popular class so this makes it fairer and easier to judge.

We have also made some changes to our Final on 15th May 2024 which will be a shorter LIVE event hosted by Nigel Barden and focused on the Supreme Judging along with interviews, panels and cheese chats.

The rest of the class and category judging will be available to view online as normal.

Early bird prices from now until 1st Feb

Individual entry £30 plus VAT
3 for 2 = £60 plus VAT

(add 3 categories to basket and use code VCA3FOR2 at checkout)

Standard pricing starts from 2nd February 2024

Individual entry £40 plus VAT
3 for 2 = £100 plus VAT

(add 3 categories to basket and use code VCA3FOR2 at checkout)

Closing date: Monday 18th March 2024

ENTER 2024 AWARDS

🥇Why should you enter?🥇

The Virtual Cheese Awards are truly unique in that all the judging from individual classes to the final categories is conducted live and available to view online.

This makes the awards truly transparent as they give hardworking British cheese producers upfront and honest feedback from a panel of the UK's most experienced and respected cheese experts.

Previous winners of the Virtual Cheese Awards include;

2023: Montgomery Mature Cheddar; made by the third-generation of the Montgomery family whose cows graze the beautiful Cadbury, Somerset pastures.

2022: Keen's Cheddar; made by James Keen and family using milk from their own herd of cows fed on the lush pasture around their Somerset farm.

2021: La Fresca Margarita; a fresh young cow’s milk cheese produced by Feltham’s Farm.

2020: Renegade Monk; made by Feltham's Farm it is a soft blue cow’s milk cheese which made from organic pasteurised cows milk and rind-washed in ale.

These award-winning cheeses have gone on to secure national supermarket and independent cheese retail listings, experiencing lots of success.
Could you be our 2024 winner?

Not sure what all the fuss is about? You can watch all the action from the 2023 live final on our YouTube live

Watch the Live Final Here
https://www.virtualcheeseawards.com/so/59OpjTr3j/c?w=qBTSW3TNWPmWIAt9Pb1aMpmKI4XXuGiRqdQk5355k3Y.eyJ1IjoiaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cueW91dHViZS5jb20vd2F0Y2g_dj1naklrVF9GazRxYyZ0PTI5ODM1cyIsInIiOiI4OGNhZmFkNi00YzJlLTQzYmYtOGU1Mi1mMmM0N2I4ZTAyODIiLCJtIjoibWFpbCIsImMiOiI2Yzk4ZGYwZC1iZGE2LTQxYTItYTE1Ny1kNjYwNjA1MjE1MGMifQ

CHEESE CATEGORIES.

1. Best Enhanced Cheese - 5 classes

2. Best Speciality Cheese - 5 classes

3. Best Territorial Cheese - 8 classes

4. Best Artisan Hard Cheese - 4 classes

5. Best Cheddar Cheese - 6 classes

6. Best Blue Cheese - 3 classes

7. Best Artisan Soft Chese - 4 classes

ENTER YOUR CHEESE FOR £30 NOW

💎VCA Excellence Awards💎

Whilst the Virtual Cheese Awards was created to celebrate great British Cheese, where would we be without the incredible stories and people behind them?

We recognise these diamonds in our Recognising Excellence Awards which unearth the hidden stars of the past, present and future

Nominate someone on your team, a local cheese hero or even nominate yourself!
It's FREE to enter

Cheese Hero

New Cheesemaker of the Year

Young Cheesemaker of the Year

Sustainability Trophy

The Sustainability Trophy is dedicated to anyone in the industry who has either made a difference or a business who is leading the way in sustainable practices

£20 to enter

Sponsor our 2024 awards

TO SPONSOR OUR 2024 AWARDS PLEASE EMAIL SARAH OR VICKIE;

[email protected]

[email protected]

We look forward to celebrating even more fantastic British cheese in 2024.

The Virtual Awards Team

Shop - CATEGORIES | Virtual Cheese Award Awards and entry questions: [email protected] Sponsorship and media partner opportunities: [email protected] Marketing and PR: [email protected]   

A taste of luxury comes to Hayes! Deli Best in Station Approach bringing award winning coffees and speciality cheeses to Kent. Needless to say, my coffee on this morning's commute was accompanied by a delicious bag of cheese.....

Chiswick Cheese Market on the third Sunday of every month. So nice to see lovely Gary from Hamm Tun and taste the fantastic cheese he sells. Amongst hundreds of cheeses for sale at the market was the Oxford Blue, the Pevensey Blue, Bath Blue cheese, Pitchfork..... Our main purchase was a huge chunk of Cashel Blue and I can't wait to get home and share it out.
Also, check out the cool cheese eating party game 'Crackerdash' for Christmas. https://www.crackerdash.com/

Went to my local Christmas market and all I bought were these two Kentish goodies.Sparkling Vintage Chapel Down and Kingscott Kentish blue. Result!! Thats my afternoon sorted 😁.

Check out these great cheeses. Not just for Christmas 🤩 !!

Fine Cheesemakers of Scotland Directory - Fine Cheesemakers of Scotland Fine Cheesemakers of Scotland DirectoryFilter CategoriesFilter - AllAberdeenshireArgyllAyrshireDumfries and GallowayEast LothianFifeInverness-shireLanarkshireNorth AyrshireOrkneyPerthshireRoss-shireStirlingshire Cambus O'May Cheese Co LtdCambus O'May Cheese Co Ltd Connage Highland DairyConnage Highl...

We have a winner!!!
Really young, 'excited and shocked' Lily Morris.
Congratulations and well done Lily, a welshwoman showing World Cheese how its done 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

The iconic Andy Swincoe.....

Our friends in the US from the USDEC (United States Dairy Export Council) promoting lovely American dairy.

Young Cheesemonger of the Year competition run by Academy of Cheese with Tracey Colley at the World Cheese Awards 2023 in Trondheim, Norway.

The Academy of Cheese and Chiswick Cheese Market are thrilled to announce the awardees of their Cheesemakers Grant for 2023. The four winners, who beat off competition from a host of entries, and impressed the organisers during their interviews are:

Tracey Longhurst, Surrey

Millie Preece, Shropshire

Aine Rubikaite, East Sussex

Dean Storey, Herefordshire

The Grant was set up this year by the Academy of Cheese, with funding from Chiswick Cheese Market, to encourage aspiring cheesemakers into the industry and help new cheesemakers get their products to market.

Lucy Cufflin from Chiswick Cheese Market, who was involved in the selection of the awardees, said that the quality of the applications was exceptional, adding “They were also very different in terms of their aims for cheesemaking, which made it really tough to choose. In the end, we picked those people we felt would benefit the most from the combined support and training packages. It’s so exciting to see how their cheesemaking journey progresses over the next 12 months and we are looking forward to having their final cheeses at Chiswick Cheese Market next year, as soon as they are ready!”

Tracey, Millie, Aine and Dean each now have £1000 to spend, in the form of Academy of Cheese certifications and cheesemaking guidance. In addition to this training package, the awardees will receive bespoke support and mentoring, as well as opportunities to promote and market their cheeses.

The four winners are already enjoying the benefits of the grant and were able to meet up and share stories on their Academy of Cheese Level Two with Cheesemaking Course, which they all attended at Harper Adams University in July.

Full details of the grant can be found on the Academy’s website

Chiswick Cheese Market Cheesemakers Grant - Academy Of Cheese Certification, mentoring and support to encourage new cheesemakers into the business of making delicious cheese.

http://www.gff.co.uk/wca
World Cheese Awards 2023 - the largest global cheese-only event is open for entries!

The event brings together cheesemakers, retailers, buyers, consumers, media, and food experts, to honour approx. 4,000 cheeses from across the globe and celebrate the best in cheesemaking. It will be attended by 250 judges from more than 38 different countries.

The event is part of the Oste V-M cheese festival at Trondheim Spektrum, Norway, on Friday 27 October 2023 and will be supported by HANEN, the national organisation for rural tourism and farm produce in Norway.

Key dates:

Submissions for entries close: 8 September 2023*.

World Cheese Awards event: 27 – 28 October.
World Cheese Awards 2023

World Cheese Awards - Guild of Fine Food A truly global cheese event, World Cheese brings together cheesemakers, retailers, buyers and food commentators worldwide to judge over 4,000 cheeses from over 40 countries. The World Cheese Awards will take place in Trondheim, Norway in October 2023.

Out-competing over 250 British cheeses, Montgomery Mature Traditional Cheddar was crowned Supreme Champion and Best of British Cheese at the Virtual Cheese Awards 2023.

Virtual Cheese Awards 2023 crowns its winners in eight-hour live final | News | Speciality Food Magazine Last week, the Virtual Cheese Awards revealed the best British cheesemakers for 2023 in an eight-hour-long live final, hosted by BBC broadcaster Nigel Barden. On Wednesday 17th May, the winners of the seven Virtual Cheese Awards were announced.  Out-competing over 250 British cheeses, Montgomery Ma...

From the Three Counties Team.



16-18 June 2023. CHEESE AND DAIRY PRODUCE

Everyone loves Cheese and we think British Cheese is the best in the world!

There is no doubt that Specialist Cheese Makers in this country produce a vast array of high quality, artisan cheese and we believe the Royal Three Counties Show is an ideal opportunity to celebrate and promote the British Cheese industry with around 90,000 visitors over 3 days, free school trips for around 3,500 school children from a wide variety of backgrounds and a strong Food & Drink focus with the Food & Drink Festival including Cookery Theatre.

We are truly enthusiastic about raising awareness of the vast array of great quality cheeses now available from both specialist cheese retailers through to national supermarket chains, as well as educating our visitors on the benefits of including dairy in their diet, and highlighting the process and quality of our produce, while linking to cheese retailers and the specialist dairy livestock classes around the show. We would love you, as a regional producer to get involved and help us promote all that is good about British Cheese. We would be delighted if you can join us in any capacity to engage with our visitors.

It might be that you could set up a small retail operation within our Dairy Marquee; alternatively, providing a quantity of cheese for sampling would be a really great way to promote your product, as would a short talk from you about careers involved in the dairy industry and how you got involved in cheese production and the details of the work involved.

Any other suggestions you have as to how we can promote our British Cheeses would also be very welcome.

Already planning on being at The Royal Three Counites Show? If you are already involved in the show as a retailer in our Food and Drink Festival, you can also get involved! we can sign post our visitors from the marquee to where they can learn more about your range and purchase your cheeses, so any cheese information or suggestions for tastings would be welcome.

As the show is only four weeks away, please get in touch to talk with us about how you would like to get involved and any suggestions you can make to ensure we do our very best to take this opportunity to support the British Dairy Industry and make this successful event.

Please email [email protected] or

Alternatively [email protected]

Virtual Cheese Awards The UK's only online cheese awards. Welcome to the Virtual Cheese Awards newsletter!

Castell Coch. Fantastic Welsh cakes (6 different flavours) and the best tea (grown on a farm in Wales 70k plants) I have ever tasted. Order online recommended.

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/worlds-best-cheese-awards-2022-wales/index.html

The world's best cheese for 2022 is revealed More than 4,400 cheeses from 42 countries are sniffed, prodded and savored as 250 international judges crown their favorite at the World Cheese Awards in Wales.

BBC News - How King Charles helped save British farmhouse cheese

How King Charles helped save British farmhouse cheese The new king helped drive a renaissance in British cheesemaking when the industry was in crisis 30 years ago.

British Cheese Awards opens for entry, as competition returns after three year hiatus

The British Cheese Awards is now open for entry, with organisers, The Royal Bath & West Society, inviting cheesemakers across the United Kingdom to submit their products by the deadline of Saturday 20 August. The competition will make its welcome return to The Bath & West Showground on Wednesday 5 October, following a three-year break imposed by the challenges of the COVID-19 crisis.

Taking place in partnership with The Dairy Show for the very first time, this year’s British Cheese Awards will witness the largest coming together of British cheese for many years. Combining the UK’s biggest cheese competition with a dairy show that brings the national and international dairy trade together, The Royal Bath & West Society will present a dairy event that covers everything from agriculture and production, right through to the finest examples of British cheesemaking.

Judging entries from England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, the British Cheese Awards will assess cheeses from over 75% of the UK’s producers, making it the go-to awards scheme for anyone looking for the best in British cheese. The judging panel is made up of cheesemakers, cheesemongers, cheese experts, buyers and commentators, together representing the beating heart of the cheese industry.

Cheese and dairy products will be assessed in all traditional categories, with the judges awarding Bronze, Silver and Gold accolades to worthy entrants, as well as special trophies for the top cheese in each category and in each country. The 2022 Supreme Champion will be revealed during the British Cheese Awards Dinner on the evening of Wednesday 5 October, joining a select group of cheesemakers to have taken home the most coveted prize in British cheese.

Julius Longman, chairman of the British Cheese Awards, commented: “We’re so excited to be bringing the British Cheese Awards back this year following such a challenging period for the cheesemaking industry and can’t wait to reunite our community of farmers, makers, buyers and sellers once again. In the face of such adversity, the industry has had to dig deep and innovate in so many different ways, so we know this year’s awards will be a celebration of our collective achievements, while also giving us an opportunity to look ahead to a continuation of what is a golden age in British cheesemaking. We’ll also be hosted by The Dairy Show for the first time in our history, which feels like such a natural fit for the competition, so we’re looking forward to bringing the industry together for an event unlike anything the country has seen before.”

The British Cheese Awards is now open for entry until Saturday 20 August. Producers can enter online at www.britishcheeseawards.com

The British Cheese Awards, organised by The Royal Bath & West Society, will take place on Wednesday 5 October at The Bath & West Showground in Shepton Mallet, Somerset.

The British Cheese Awards The British Cheese Awards, which will take place in 2022, hosts over 800 British cheeses.

The 34th edition of the World Cheese Awards is now open for entries to cheeses from across the globe. This year's event will be held from 1-3 November at the International Conference Centre Wales, supported by the Welsh Government. A truly global event, the World Cheese Awards will bring together cheesemakers, retailers, buyers and food commentators worldwide to judge 4,000 cheeses from over 40 countries.

There are limited entry spaces available, so it is strongly advisable to enter as soon as possible, as the competition will close before the deadline if the entry cap is reached.

World Cheese Awards - Guild of Fine Food A truly global cheese event, World Cheese brings together cheesemakers, retailers, buyers, consumers and food commentators worldwide to judge nearly 4,000 cheeses from over 40 countries. World Cheese Awards 2022 It is with mixed emotions, but with enormous pride and excitement, that we are taking th...

And the VCA Supreme Champion and Best of British Cheese 2022 is, ......the fantastic....
Keen's Traditional Raw Milk Extra Mature Cheddar!

Virtual Cheese Awards The UK's only online cheese awards. Welcome to the Virtual Cheese Awards newsletter! Thank you to everyone who tuned in to our live final Keens Cheddar's Traditional Raw Milk Extra Mature Cheddar was crowned as the Supreme Champion and Best of British cheese 2022! James Keen, head cheesemaker at Keen's Cheddar said; “Winning the pre...

Great Yorkshire Show Cheese & Dairy Show 2022 - Entries Closing May 31st

The Great Yorkshire Show are delighted to welcome the Cheese and Dairy Show back for 2022 after a two year absence due to Covid 19.

It promises to be a very special event, and it will be made more special by the presence of your cheese and dairy products. If you can join us in person too, it would be great to see you.

The entry deadline has been extended to May 31st
Please find the entry form and schedule for the Cheese & Dairy Show at the Great Yorkshire Show 2022 here
https://greatyorkshireshow.co.uk/entry-forms-and-schedules/

At only £15 per entry (£20 for retailer classes), we'd love you to enter and have your cheese and dairy products exhibited amongst the nation's best, and displayed for the 140,000 visitors who attend the show.

Many thanks for your support

Entry Forms and Schedules for Great Yorkshire Show Competitive Classes Find the latest schedule & entry form for all competitive classes at the Great Yorkshire Show 2022. Available to download as pdf files including details on how to book exhibitor camping, stables & livestock stalls.

https://www.virtualcheeseawards.com/

Home | Virtual Cheese Award The Virtual Cheese Awards celebrates the best of British and Irish Cheese. From creamery mild cheddar to artisan stilton, Cornish Yarg to Buffalo Mozzarella. Each cheese is judged live, giving the producers instant feed-back. Entries limited to 400. Enter now at the early bird rate.

World Cheese Awards community is fundraising for the DEC Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal

Many of you will be aware that the Guild of Fine Food has been working to deliver the World Cheese Awards in Kyiv, with our partners ProCheese, for the past two years.

We were due to deliver the 34th edition in early November and the fact that this year was to be held in Ukraine, brings the enormity of the crisis even closer to the global cheese community, many of whom met the ProCheese team in Oviedo, Spain.

The most constructive way we can help is to direct funds through a recognised charity and we have been directed to the DEC by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office.

We were invited to the Ukraine to shine a light and nuture the cheesemakers of that nation, who were working hard to be recognised on the world stage. We visited a few of those cheesemakers in 2019 and were bowled over by their ambition. We were looking forward to introducing the World Cheese community to them and now feel we need to corral that community to help.

Please donate if you can - and please share this with the global cheese community.