Pearl Valley Cheese receives awards at world championship contest
Pearl Valley Cheese has received high honors at the World Championship Cheese Contest. The premiere cheese competition included 3,667 entries was held at the Monona Terrace Convention Center in Madison, Wis. on March 3-5. The contest included 132 classes of dairy products.
Pearl Valley received a silver medal for a Marble Cheese Deli Horn in the Marble Curd Cheese class. This class was very competitive with 42 entries from cheese factories in 12 states in the United States and Canada. Marble cheese, also known as Colby Jack, is a combination of orange and white cheese curds marbled together.
Pearl Valley also received a bronze medal for its Swiss Cheese in the Rindless Swiss Cheese class. This class had 19 entries from cheese factories around the United States and Europe. Traditional large holes and sweet nutty flavor are key characteristics of swiss cheese. Pearl Valley makes Swiss Cheese in 200- pound blocks and then grades, cuts, and packages the cheese for sale in grocery stores and delis.
“While we are extremely excited about this recognition, we are not surprised by it,” said David Burch the production manager and head cheesemaker. “We know that we have a great team of employees here at Pearl Valley that work together to make sure that we are making cheese to the highest quality. Great cheese comes from great milk and we are appreciative of all the local farmers who work hard to provide us with a high-quality milk supply.”
Entries were evaluated by a team of skilled technical dairy product judges selected from around the world. Judges consider flavor, body and texture, salt, color, finish, packaging and other appropriate attributes. A gold medal, silver medal and bronze medal are awarded to the three highest scoring entries in each class. Cheesemakers from 36 states and 26 nations sent their best dairy products for evaluation. The biannual, World Championship Cheese Contest, was initiated in 1957 and is the largest technical cheese, butter, and yogurt competition in the world.
Pearl Valley Cheese produces a wide array of all-natural, specialty cheeses including Swiss, Colby, Marble, Pepper Jack, Lacey Swiss, Lacey Baby Swiss, and Gouda. Pearl Valley Cheese was started by Swiss immigrants in 1928 and today is being operated by the third and fourth generations of the family. The facility manufactures over 8.5 million pounds of cheese annually and employs about 55 people. All are welcome to visit the company cheese shop where you can see the cheese being made and enjoy fresh samples. Additional information on the company can be found at www.pearlvalleycheese.com.
Category: Business
