Whirlwind of wins for Devon cheesemakers

The Devon cheesemakers have done it again!

Quicke’s have had a triple triumph at the International Cheese Awards 2016 winning two Gold medals and one Silver. Additionally, the Guild of Fine Food has also this week announced its annual Great Taste stars – with two of Quicke’s cheeses receiving two stars, and four more receiving one star.

International Cheese Awards (ICA)
Organised by Nantwich Agricultural Society, ICA is one of the biggest cheese events in the world. Established in 1897, the annual awards take place at Dorfield Park, Nantwich. On Tuesday 26th July, over 200 experts judged a record-breaking 5,000 entries. Quicke’s Gold medal winners were Ewes’ Milk Cheese and Oak Smoked Cheddar, with the Silver medal going to Quicke’s Extra Mature Cheddar. It is a real accomplishment for the Newton St Cyres dairy to receive top medals at international competition

Great Taste Awards (GTA)
This week’s good news continues with the announcement, on Thursday 28th July, of the Guild of Fine Food’s much anticipated Great Taste Awards. An acknowledged benchmark for the speciality food and drink sector, exactly 10,000 products were scrutinised between April and July. Over 49 days, more than 500 judges decided which products were worthy of one, two or three-stars. These widely recognised awards are highly sought after – with just a third of the products entered receiving an accolade. Quicke’s have a great set of results with their Double Devonshire and Goats’ Milk Cheese receiving two stars. Their Vintage Cheddar, Elderflower Cheddar, Extra Mature Cheddar and Oak Smoked Cheddar each collected one star.

Tom Chatfield, Sales and Marketing Manager, Quicke’s comments: “What a whirlwind week! The competition announcements have been back-to-back which has made it very exciting. There are always high expectations amongst the team because everyone at Quicke’s puts so much into making the best cheese they possibly can. Both ICA and Great Taste mean an awful lot to us. What’s interesting is that there has been recognition right across the range of Quickes cheeses. 

"We create eleven varieties of clothbound cheeses, and it is fantastic that all flavours continue to be recognised as outstanding. In particular, our Oak Smoked Cheddar is having an extraordinary run at the moment. It also won the coveted title for ‘Best Dairy Product with Added Flavour’ at the Great Yorkshire Show. So there has been three big wins for Oak Smoked Cheddar within a month!”