Past Awards
In 2008 the World Jersey Cattle Bureau launched the world’s first produce awards dedicated to a single breed of livestock - The World Jersey Cheese Awards.  The concept was simple; demonstrate the quality and diversity of cheeses made from 100% Jersey milk to reinforce in the mind of consumers that when it comes to quality look for ’Jersey’ as a mark of the very best.

The RJA&HS agreed to host and manage the inaugural awards to coincide with the WJCB Conference in Jersey in May 2008. The States of Jersey Tourism Development Fund supported the event and enabled much of the necessary infrastructure to be purchased.  On the day of judging over 100 cheeses came forward from 10 countries and the team of judges, led by Head Judge Chris Ashby, had a daunting task with cheese as diverse as hard cheeses from Australia to cottage cheeses from Denmark to soft cheeses from Rwanda.

After much deliberation the overall winner was chosen as being a cheese from Holland, ‘Oude Remeker’, a hard cheese made by Irene & Jan Dirk Van der Voort.  Head judge, Chris Ashby from the UK, described this as “a cheese to make you weak at the knees”.  In all, presentations were made of 10 Gold Medals, 11 Silver and 18 Bronze which reflected the high standard of entries.

Did the event live up to expectations?  The answer is ‘yes’, judging by the feedback.  There was extensive coverage in the food and farming media around the world and medal winners reported an upsurge in demand for their cheeses.
 
The question for the Bureau was ‘where next?’  It was decided that the World Awards would be held in Jersey, the home of the breed, every two years.  In the interim years the five different regions of the Bureau would be encouraged to launch regional awards and in 2009 the North America region was the first to rise to the challenge.
 
The 2009 North American Jersey Cheese Awards attracted nearly 80 entries from the USA and Canada with some outstanding cheese, particularly in the hard cheese classes.  Choosing the overall winner was not easy, but the ultimately the judges were in agreement that Cobb Hill Cheese’s ‘Ascutney Mountain’ deserved the title.  Head Judge, Cathy Guidi from Canada, described this cheese as “utterly impressive”.
 
With well known cheese experts around the world commenting so positively on Jersey milk cheese the breed is reinforcing its reputation as the source of the best quality dairy products.

The 2nd World Jersey Cheese Awards will take place over 11th & 12th June 2010 coinciding with the RJA&HS Spring Fair weekend.