Ellsworth Wins Top Prize at NMPF Dairy Contest; Lanco Pennland Takes Reserve
December 2, 2025
A Habanero Ghost Jack from Ellsworth Cooperative Creamery took the top prize in NMPF’s annual cheese and dairy products competition, while Lanco Pennland took the overall Reserve Chairman’s award with its Sweet Cheddar, victories celebrated at the Joint Annual Meeting cheese reception Nov. 12.
Judges noted the high quality of the jack cheese combined with the delicate balance of flavor with the habanero and ghost peppers in giving its top award to Ellsworth for its cheese produced by Team Menomonie of Menomonie, WI. The Sweet Cheddar, produced in Hancock, MD by the team of “Kylie and Ben,” was one of several awards won by Lanco Pennland, which as a new member participated in its first NMPF cheese contest this year.
The annual dairy product contest, commonly called “the cheese contest,” offers NMPF members an opportunity to showcase the top-quality products. Butter was added to the contest in 2024, and yogurt in 2022. Fourteen NMPF cooperative members submitted 240 entries and more than 3,000 pounds of dairy products for this year’s contest.
Contest judges included Allison Reynolds from USDA, Timothy Meyers, College of DuPage, Gina Mode, Center for Dairy Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Luis A. Jimenez-Maroto, also with the Center for Dairy Research.
The top prizes, the Chairman’s Award and the Reserve Chairman’s, are decided by judges’ consensus.
In other awards, the best Italian also went to Lanco Pennland for its provolone. The best cottage cheese was awarded to Prairie Farms Dairy, Inc. for its Regular, small curd cottage cheese produced in Carbondale, IL by their Carbondale team. The best butter went to Agri-Mark, Inc. for its Salted 83 butterfat Euro Style Butter made in West Springfield, MA and best yogurt went to Prairie Farms Dairy, Inc. for its vanilla yogurt made in Wichita, KS by its Wichita Culture Team.
A full list of winners is here.
