Tuesday, 18 February 2020 11:25

Fonterra butter stars in Oz

Written by  Sudesh Kissun
Fonterra’s award-winning team from Cobden site in Victoria. Fonterra’s award-winning team from Cobden site in Victoria.

Fonterra is enjoying a golden run in the Australian butter market.

The co-op’s Western Star salted butter scooped the Champion Butter title for the 10th time at the Australian Grand Dairy Awards this month. It also picked up the Grand Dairy Champion award.

Western Star is manufactured at the co-op’s Cobden site in western Victoria.

Fonterra Cobden production manager Samir Suri says the team is thrilled with the wins.

The win coincides with the launch of a national television advertising campaign for Western Star.

Suri says there has been a lot of celebration at the Cobden site.

“It’s been a really great week for our people, not only is our hard work showcased on national television, it’s again been recognised as the best butter in Australia,” he says.

“Winning these awards are a testament to the consistency of the butter we produce – it’s the simple ingredients, the expert craft of our team, and of course, the quality of our south west farmers’ milk, which makes it so great,” says Suri.  Western Star is an iconic Aussie favourite, with judges describing it as a classic, pure, creamy butter with a rich satisfying, five-star taste. 

Celebrating its 21st year, the Australian Grand Dairy Awards are the premier dairy awards within the Australian dairy industry. Organised by Dairy Australia, these awards recognise the ‘best of the best’ - each of the 400 products entered this year are already gold awards winners in State level competitions. 

Australia’s top cheeses, ice creams, milks, butter, gelato are judged by a 12-strong panel of top dairy judges.

“Winning at The Australian Grand Dairy Awards is the highest accolade in the dairy industry and is testament to our farmers and producers, whose hard work and dedication to their craft inspires some of the highest quality dairy products in the world,” said Dairy Australia’s Alexandra Kury, convener of the awards.

The 2020 Australian Grand Cheese Champion title went to Victorian producer, Berry’s Creek Gourmet Cheese for its Oak Blue.

Victorian producers claimed the highest number of Champion titles, taking out seven of the nineteen categories: Western Australia followed with four, New South Wales with three, South Australia and Queensland with two and Tasmania with one.

More like this

Winston Peters questions Fonterra divestment plan

Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has joined the debate around the proposed sale of Fonterra’s consumer and related businesses, demanding answers from the co-operative around its milk supply deal with the buyer, Lactalis.

Editorial: A new era for two co-ops

OPINION: Farmer shareholders of two of New Zealand's largest co-operatives have an important decision to make this month and what they decide could change the landscape of the dairy and meat sectors in New Zealand.

Should co-op sell its consumer brands?

OPINION: As CEO of the Dairy Board in the 1980s I was fortunate to work with a team of experienced and capable executives who made most of the brand investments that created the international consumer business Fonterra inherited. Soprole in Chile was the largest, but there were more than 20 countries where consumer marketing companies were established and Anchor and other brands were successfully launched.

Featured

'One more push' to eliminate FE

Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) is calling on farmers from all regions to take part in the final season of the Sheep Poo Study aiming to build a clearer picture of how facial eczema (FE) affects farms across New Zealand.

Winston Peters questions Fonterra divestment plan

Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has joined the debate around the proposed sale of Fonterra’s consumer and related businesses, demanding answers from the co-operative around its milk supply deal with the buyer, Lactalis.

National

Machinery & Products

New McHale terra drive axle option

Well-known for its Fusion baler wrapper combination, Irish manufacturer McHale has launched an interesting option at the recent Irish Ploughing…

Amazone unveils flagship spreader

With the price of fertiliser still significantly higher than 2024, there is an increased onus on ensuring its spread accurately at…

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

Tough times

OPINION: Dairy industry players are also falling by the wayside as the economic downturn bites around the country.

MSA triumph

OPINION: Methane Science Accord, a farmer-led organisation advocating for zero tax on ruminant methane, will be quietly celebrating its first…

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter