Top Kiwi Cheeses Of 2025 Named

Almost 200 NZ made cheeses are entitled to gold, silver and bronze wear medals to affirm their quality following the judging of the New Zealand Champions of Cheese Awards 2025.

Medals were bestowed upon 199 of the country's finest cheeses after evaluation of over 240 locally produced cheeses. The awards, managed by the New Zealand Specialist Cheesemakers Association, highlighted exceptional quality and innovation in the local cheese industry.

Assessment was conducted at Hamilton’s WINTEC in early March with Master Judge Jason Tarrant guiding thirty judges, supported by 20 stewards, through an evaluation of 240 NZ-made cheeses. Sticking with the numbers; the 199 medal count consists of 65 gold medals, 83 silver medals and 51 bronze medals.

Jason Tarrant said; “it was pleasing to see a nearly 10% increase in total entries over the previous year. With a significant 50% lift in the number of flavoured cheeses entered for assessment and double the number in the blue cheese, export cheese and Greek or Danish-style cheese categories”.

His and the judges’ taste buds were thrilled by “outstanding blue cheese, adventurous flavour added entries that complimented the cheese while offering a real point of difference for consumers. All of which was in sharp contrast to the delicate and decadent fresh Italian-Style cheese that melted in the mouth and also captured the attention of judges.’

For example; in the dish Champion Fresh Italian-Style Cheese category, Anabelle Exquisite Dairy

Bouchees Black Garlic and Truffle received a gold medal with judges saying; ‘Lovely fresh, smooth cheese. Uniform and consistent sizing…. good balance of flavours. Presence of black garlic and truffle harmonise nicely. Great cheese.’

In the FSQSNZ Champion Aged Flavour Added Cheese category Jones Family Farm Peppered Havarti received a gold medal with their judges’ feedback: ‘Excellent cheese! Excellent flavour! Beautifully presented! Cheese flavour and body well balanced. Pepper was the perfect addition.’

Awarding Kāpiti Artisan Bridge Street Blue a gold medal in the ECOLAB Champion Blue Cheese category, the judges’ comments said: ‘Rustic external cheese (Positively). Well broken down interior, interior decadent…. inside was awesome. Some firmness, some creamy 'oozy' texture which was great…. a good cheese. Well done.’

Kiwi cheese lovers will find these and other NZ Champions of Cheese Awards medal winners at their local supermarket and specialty retailer. They’ll know medal-winning cheeses because they will wear NZ Champions of Cheese gold, silver and bronze medals – it’s consumers guarantee the cheese is made in NZ and it’s been assessed by experts who affirm it’s of the highest quality. Buying NZ cheese helps maintain jobs and income for Aotearoa businesses.

NZSCA Chair, Simon Lamb thanked the Awards sponsors and all the volunteer judges and stewards whose expertise made the awards possible. Without the voluntary contributions of judges and

stewards who donate their Sunday to help find NZ's best cheeses the NZ Champions of Cheese Awards wouldn’t be possible.” 

Owned and managed by the New Zealand Specialist Cheesemakers Association, the NZ Champions of Cheese Awards are in their 22nd year of recognising Aotearoa’s finest cheeses and shining a light on the best examples to guide consumers on purchase decisions with trophies and medals awarded to outstanding NZ Cheese.

Champions at the NZ Champions of Cheese Awards 2025 medal winners are listed on cheeseloversnz.co.nz and nzsca.org.nz.

The highest scoring gold medal cheeses are in contention to be named as Champions at the NZ Champions of Cheese Awards 2025 Gala Dinner in Hamilton on Thursday 1 May 2025.

The NZ Champions of Cheese 2025 Trophies are:

• Woolworths Champion of Champions (Commercial)
• NZSCA Champion of Champions (Mid-sized)
• Puhoi Valley Champion of Champions (Boutique)
• MilkTestNZ Champion Cheesemaker
• Fonterra Co-operative Group Champion Original Cheese
• ECOLAB Champion Blue Cheese
• FOSS Champion New Cheese
• Novonesis Champion Soft White Rind Cheese
• Cheeselinks Champion Greek-Style or Danish-Style Cheese
• dish Champion Fresh Italian-Style Cheese
• WINTEC Champion Fresh Unripened Cheese
• AsureQuality Champion Dutch-Style Cheese
• IXOM Champion European-Style Cheese
• IFF Champion Farmhouse Cheese
• Thermaflo Champion Washed Rind Cheese
• FSQSNZ Champion Aged Flavour Added Cheese
• Big Chill Distribution Champion Fresh Flavour Added Cheese
• Tetra Pak Champion Retail Cheddar Cheese
• SEE Champion Bulk Cheddar Cheese
• OJI Fibre Solutions Best-in-Class Goat Milk Cheese
• Maui Milk Best-in-Class Sheep Milk Cheese
• Hill Labs Best-in-Class Buffalo Milk Cheese
• Dominion Salt Champion Export Cheese

NZ Champions of Cheese 2025 Special Awards are:

• Sabato Chefs’ Choice
• Woolworths Sustainability Award
• Innovative Packaging Aspiring Cheesemaker

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