Two Island companies took home hardware at the recent Canadian Cheese Awards in Toronto.
Cow’s Creamery took home four awards while ADL won in two categories.
The awards take place every two years with the aim of showcasing the best in pure Canadian cheese made without artificial colours, flavours or preservatives and no modified milk ingredients. Around 375 cheese were submitted, with 115 finalists selected.
Cow’s’ three-year-old cheddar won in three separate categories - Best Aged Cheddar, Best Cow’s Milk Cheese and Best Atlantic Canadian Cheese – while the Charlottetown-based company’s Appletree Smoked Cheddar also received top honours in the Smoked Cheddar Category.
“P.E.I. milk is a very important ingredient in all of our diary products,” said Cow’s cheesemaker Armand Bernard, who was in Toronto to receive the awards June 6. “We know that P.E.I. milk is always very high quality and we feel it give us an edge over our competition.”
Summerside-based ADL was recognized for its Dairy Isle Medium and Dairy Isle Old brands, which each took home first place in their respective categories.
“These awards speak to the commitment that our P.E.I. family farm owners have to producing high-quality milk and our cheesemaker’s attention to detail and time-honoured recipes,” said ADL’s business development manager Chad Mann.
The competition, featuring dozens of cheese producers from across the country, was judged in advance of the awards by a panel of 14 experts.
