First Milk celebrates success at the International Cheese and Dairy Awards

First Milk proudly secured 22 awards across its hard cheese range, including nine gold, eight silver and five bronze medals. With only one medal of each colour awarded per class, and up to 40 entries in popular Cheddar categories, this success reflects the consistently high standards of our cheesemaking.

Top accolades

In addition to the medals, First Milk was honoured with four major trophies, including:

• JKM Trophy, awarded to the Best Mature Creamery Block Cheddar in show, was regained from last year.
• The Brian Eddy Award for Best Home International English Cheddar. Receiving the trophy for this new award was particularly meaningful as Brian worked at both the Lake District and Haverfordwest Creameries during his long dairy industry career.
• CHR Hansen Double Gloucester Trophy, awarded to the Champion Creamery Double Gloucester, which we last received in 2023.
• The South Caernarfon Creameries Trophy for Best Welsh Cheese of any variety. We retained this trophy from last year and, once again, took home all three medals in this class.

The full range of our cheeses was recognised, from vintage to mild Cheddars, Double Gloucester and Red Leicester, demonstrating the strength and versatility of our award-winning range.

Golden Hooves shines

Our consumer brand, Golden Hooves, also celebrated success. Three medals were awarded to Golden Hooves cheeses, underlining the exceptional quality rooted in regenerative farming practices. Notably, our Golden Hooves Salted Butter earned a medal on its debut.

BV Dairy adds to the medal tally

Specialist dairy product manufacturer BV Dairy, now an integral part of the First Milk family, also impressed. It received accolades for its reduced fat Greek-style yoghurt and popular full fat soft cheese, highlighting the depth of excellence across our broad range of dairy products.

Reflecting on the success, Customer Quality Manager Jack Eade said: “It’s an outstanding achievement to have won so many accolades at the world’s largest cheese show, particularly across such a wide range of recipes and cheese profiles. It’s a testament to the skill of our people and the exceptional quality of milk produced by our members.”