Guernsey Butter wins gold and silver at international awards
03 July 2023
Guernsey Dairy has been awarded prestigious Gold and Silver Awards for its butter at this year's International Cheese and Dairy Awards.
In classes open to non-UK Producers, Guernsey Dairy's salted butter won a Gold award in the Salted Butter class, and in the Unsalted Butter class secured a Silver.
The Awards is a two-day event that started in 1897 and is the most recognised international cheese and associated dairy product competition in Europe. Judging took place at the Staffordshire County Showground on Thursday 29 June.
Cheese and dairy products, such as butter and spreads from five continents, were submitted to a panel of 265 judges who spent two days tasting and evaluating each product. The 2023 edition of the International Cheese and Dairy Awards set a record for entries, with 900 producers from 42 different countries entering over 4,000 products.
Andrew Tabel, Guernsey Dairy's managing director, said: "The Guernsey Dairy prides itself on ensuring its products represent the best the island has to offer. This has now been acknowledged by winning gold and silver awards at the International Cheese and Dairy Awards and follows our successes at the Great Taste awards.
"Our butter is made to EU standards and has few ingredients - cream, naturally-derived moisture and in the case of salted butter, a little bit of salt. The rich yellow colour and unique sweet taste comes from the milk and cream produced by Guernsey cows."
The Dairy produces 250,000kg of butter every year and beat off competition from France, Ireland and the USA to be crowned gold and silver medal winners.
Most of the butter produced by the Dairy is sold locally; however, it can be purchased in the UK at larger Waitrose stores. It is also valued by chocolatiers and Michelin chefs for its quality according to Dave Domaille, the Dairy's production manager.
Mr Domaille said: "Having the seal of approval from so many experts in the dairy world is fantastic for Guernsey. At the Dairy, we endeavour to make the best products for our customers, so winning proves we can compete with the very best dairy products out there. It recognises the very high standards we set ourselves and showcases we still have one of the best breeds in the world producing world class products. I'm very proud of the team's efforts in winning these awards."