Fonterra scores silver at cheese champs

31 March 2006

Fonterra scores silver at cheese champs

Cream cheese from Fonterra's Te Rapa site has won silver at the World Championship Cheese Contest in Wisconsin.

Often dubbed the Cheese Olympics, the biennial show is the world's largest such competition, this year attracting 1,792 entries from 18 countries.

Fonterra Te Rapa cream products process manager Dave Waterman says the United States is the home of cream cheese and for Fonterra to sneak silver out from under the noses of their hosts is "very pleasing."

All entries start with a perfect score; judges deduct points for faults in appearance, texture, and taste. The Te Rapa cheese scored 97.55, less than half a point behind the winner.

Purpose built in 1997, the Te Rapa plant is Fonterra's only traditional cream cheese plant in New Zealand. The plant's 32 staff manufacture about 9,000 tonnes of the firm, traditional-style cream cheese every year between August and mid-May.

ENDS

© Scoop Media