Trusmadoor Wins Gold at International Cheese & Dairy Awards
A few long days at the Staffordshire Showground and plenty of nail-biting along the way, but it was all worth it as three Torpenhow cheeses have come away from the International Cheese & Dairy Awards 2022 with medals including a gold for Trusmadoor.
Held every year, the Awards attract over 4,000 entries and is an incredible showcase for world-class British and international producers of cheese, and success at the Awards provides high profile recognition and raises awareness with both the public, independent cheesemongers and leading retailers.
Kimberley Lattimer is Sales Manager at the Torpenhow Cheese Company: “This was the first time we’ve entered the awards so to come away with a Gold Medal is more than we could have dreamt of.”
“So many people tell us how much they love our cheese, and we’ve always thought that the quality was of a high standard, so pitching our products alongside some of the best in the country was a step we had to take to find out how they really stack up.”
Trusmadoor is a crumbly, creamy fresh cheese with a delicate citrus tang that lingers in the mouth. Made at the Park House Dairy, it has many of the characteristics typically associated with traditional Cumbrian and crumbly Lancashire cheese and is matured for a minimum of 6-weeks.
At the awards, judged on Thursday 30th June, Trusmadoor won the Gold Medal in the Best Organic Cheese (Territorial Hard), a category open to UK producers and any cheese made from organic milk, with an organic Creamy Lancashire and an organic Double Gloucester taking silver and bronze.
“We named Trusmadoor after a gap in the northern Lake District fells which we can see from the farm; it’s an undulating stretch of the national park through which shepherds have driven their sheep for centuries. Truth be told, we just really like the name!” Adds Jenny Lee, co-founder at the Torpenhow Cheese Company.
“It’s a cheese which has often taken a back seat with our Three Hills Brie and Park House Organic Cheddar attracting the most attention, so we’re delighted to see our beloved Trusmadoor – a cheese we consider to be unique to Torpenhow – receiving the accolades on this occasion.”
Speaking of the other cheeses, both Three Hills Brie and Park House Organic Cheddar won medals of their own at the International Cheese & Dairy Awards.
Three Hills Brie won a Bronze Medal for Soft Rinded Cheese (Matured and Made on Farm with Organic Pasture-Fed Milk), with Park House Organic Cheddar also winning Bronze in two categories, Organic 100% Pasture Fed (6-month Aged Farmhouse Style) and Cheddar / Cheddar Style.
But any celebrations were somewhat delayed, as Kimberley explains: “We had to head back early from the awards a there was work to be done on the farm and, at that point, nothing had been announced. It was only when I checked my emails when we were well up the M6 motorway that we realised we had won the four medals.”
“This now also has the potential of causing a little bit of a problem for people wanting to try Trusmadoor for themselves as, at present, we don’t have any ready. The latest batch is currently still maturing and will be ready in a week or two.”
The Gold and Bronze medals at the International Cheese & Dairy Awards are the latest accolades for the Torpenhow Cheese Company, which included New Cheesemaker of the Year at the 2022 Virtual Cheese Awards.
“Naturally we’re over the moon with the awards but also with the reassurance that our cheese can hold their own with some of the best in the country.” Concludes Kimberley, “Trusmadoor has now ‘set the bar’ so now our other cheeses have something to aim for in the future.”