Student cheese wins gold at Cheshire

A mature Cheshire cheese made by dairy technology students at Reaseheath College in Cheshire in the UK took a top prize at the Cheshire Show. The cheese, made from local milk, took the Gold award in a section specifically for Cheshire cheeses. The 20kg block was selected by judges above entries from some of the UK’s top cheesemakers. The cheese was made in the specialist college’s Food Innovation Centre by four students who are studying for an internationally recognised Foundation Degree in Dairy Technology.

The students are part of Project Eden, which has been created with the input and support of blue chip, small and medium sized dairy companies and is aimed at training the next generation of dairy technologists. The trainees, many of whom are new entrants to the industry, attend college on a block release basis.

The team who made the winning cheese were second year students Kirsty MacDonald and Anna Emchenko (Robert Wiseman Dairies), Simon Grills (Milk Link) and Ant Hobson (Arla Foods). Naboth Tinarwo, interim technical manager at the Food Innovation Centre, collected the Cheshire Agricultural Society Perpetual Challenge Trophy on behalf of the students. He says,  “We were delighted. This was a great achievement, particularly as the win was against strong competition from leading commercial manufacturers.”