Ellsworth Wins NMPF Dairy Products Competition
November 5, 2024
Ellsworth Cooperative Creamery took top honors in this year’s NMPF Dairy Products Competition, winning the Chairman’s Award with its Garden Vegetable with Sweet Basil Rub from Menomonie, WI.
This year’s annual edition of the contest for member cooperatives featured butter for the first time. The contest included 250 entries from 13 participating NMPF co-ops, a total of more than 3,500 pounds of cheese, yogurt and butter.
The entered products are assessed against scoring standards for cheese, yogurt or butter. NMPF thanks the judges for helping with the contest this year: Allison Reynolds (head judge), USDA, Dairy Grading Branch, Turlock, CA; Timothy Meyers, College of DuPage, Glenn Ellyn, IL; Gina Mode, Center for Dairy Research, University of Wisconsin, Madison; and Chad Galer, Dairy Management Inc., Rosemont, IL.
Ellsworth’s champion cheese was made by Team Menomonie. Upstate Niagara Cooperative won the Reserve Chairman’s Award for its Salted Butter produced in Batavia, NY. Best in Class awards included:
- Best Cheddar – Mild cheddar from Agri-Mark, Inc., Chateaugay, NY made by Team Chateaugay
- Best Cottage Cheese – Chive cottage cheese from Dairy Farmers of America, Farmington, MN made by Kemps LLC
- Best Italian – Provolone Non-Smoked w/ Lipase (Vat #13) from Foremost Farms, Richland Center, WI made by Bryan Allen and the Clayton Team
- Best Yogurt – 10% Plain Greek Yogurt from Agri‐Mark, Inc., Cabot, VT made by the Cabot Culture Plant
Extra dairy products from the contest were donated to Chefs to End Hunger, which provides meals to the hungry by redistributing the excess prepared food that would normally go to waste in hotels, restaurants, and other food service operations to local charitable organizations to serve the meals.
