EDWARDSVILLE, ILL. – The results are in for this year’s World Dairy Expo Championship Dairy Product Contest and the Prairie Farms family of brands had a notably strong showing.
Of the 267 winners in this year’s competition, Prairie Farms finished the contest with more wins than any competing company, including the top honor of Grade A Grand Champion for Regular Small Curd Cottage Cheese.
The World Dairy Expo Championship Dairy Product Contest is sponsored by the Wisconsin Dairy Products Association. Over 1,400 product entries from across the country competed in 90 contest classes, including cheese, fluid milk, yogurt, butter, sour cream, dairy dips, ice cream, cottage cheese, and whey products. The contest was held in Madison, Wisconsin
Prairie Farms and its family of companies, including Hiland Dairy, won a combined 47 awards, including 15 first-place championship trophies, 19 second-place medallions and 13 third-place medallions.
“Earning the right to market our products as ‘Best of the Best’ is an important recognition,” said Rebecca Leinenbach, vice president of marketing and communications for Prairie Farms. “The awards are indicative of the tireless efforts of our 700+ farm families and 7,800 team members to produce the highest quality dairy products available. Our consistent commitment to excellence has positioned our farmer-owned cooperative as an industry leader for 83 years. We surpassed the number of WDE awards we brought home in 2019 by 52%, and we’re excited to share our success with our customers.”
Prairie Farms made several strong showings, including Small Curd Cottage Cheese from its Carbondale, Ill. plant winning first place and a grand championship in the Regular Cottage Cheese category. Prairie Farms 4% Cottage Cheese from the Quincy, Ill. plant earned second place in the category. Small Curd Lowfat Cottage Cheese from Carbondale, Ill. also took first place in the Lowfat and No Fat Cottage Cheese category. Lowfat 2% Cottage Cheese from Hiland Dairy’s Chandler, Okla. plant took second place in the same category.
For a full list of this year's winners, click here.