Oser Communications Group

24 The Cheese Guide Swiss Valley Farms (SVF) celebrated an exciting series of wins at this year's National Milk Producers Federation Annual Cheese Competition with a total of nine awards for cheeses from both the parent company, Swiss Valley Farms, and the subsidiary company, Caves of Faribault. Caves of Faribault's AmaBlu received the prestigious Chairman's Plaque and was named Grand Champion Cheese in the 2015 National Milk Producers Federation Annual Cheese Competition. The contest, which is hosted by the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), was held in Orlando, Florida, on October 27, 2015. According to Jamie Jonker, Ph.D., Vice President of Sustainability and Scientific Affairs at NMPF, who supervises the competition, a total of 157 cheeses from 40 plants were entered in the contest representing 14 co-ops from across the country. All cheeses entered were judged based on a 100 point scale in 20 different categories. "The team at Swiss Valley Farms is extremely proud of the announcement that our AmaBlu cheese was the Grand Champion Cheese," said Jay Allison, Vice President of Sales and Business Development at Swiss Valley Farms. "It all starts with the quality milk we receive every day from our members. Then our artisan cheesemakers, our production and sales teams are focused on making and selling the highest quality products, as well as working toward new accessibility to consumers through our sales alliance with Norseland Foods. Our Caves of Faribault products have always been at the top of the awards charts, but it is always great when our peers in the dairy industry agree by giving us such prestigious honors as the Grand Champion Cheese Award." In addition to its award for Best Overall Cheese, AmaBlu was also awarded 2015 Class Champion for Best Italian Cheese. Caves of Faribault's AmaBlu and Verdant grass-fed blue cheese also received first-(98.5 points) and third-place (98.2 points) awards, respectively, in the Hard and Mold Ripened Italian category. Additional wins included a sweep of the entire Swiss category receiving first place for Swiss (99.5 points), second place for Maasdam (98.4 points), both from the Swiss Valley Farms Luana cheese plant, and third place for Grass-fed Baby Swiss (97.2 points) from the Swiss Valley Farms Shullsburg cheese plant. In the open class category the Luana plant also received first and second place for SVF Cream Cheese (98.9 points) and SVF Neufchatel (98.2 points), respectively. Don Boelens, Swiss Valley Farms CEO, shared the following sentiment in regard to the recent wins, "It is always a big honor to have one of our cheeses declared the best in the competition. I would like to thank the Swiss Valley Farms members who supplied the quality milk that went into this cheese and, indeed, all of our fine cheeses. In combination with our team of dedicated cheesemakers, Swiss Valley Farms can't help but produce excellent cheeses like this." win accolades AmaBlu Verdant Swiss Valley Farms Cheeses

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