8 awards for Ukrainian cheeses at an international competition in Portugal
27 November 2024 11:49
The international cheese competition World Cheese Awards 2024 took place in the Portuguese city of Viseu. This year, 4786 cheeses from 47 countries were presented there, including 27 from Ukraine. This was reported by the ProCheese community of cheese connoisseurs, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
As noted, for the third year in a row, Ukrainian cheeses have been recognized by international cheese experts, and in 2024 this was reflected in the awarding of 8 awards.
Bronze awards were given to:
goat cheese with truffle – Mukko, Lviv region;
legend hard cheese – Doobra Farm, Kyiv region;
hard cheese “Bikoz” – “Doobra Farm”, Kyiv region;
hard cheese “Gouda” – “Zinka”, Kyiv region;
cheese with white mold “Hoverla” – “Harbuzovyi Rai”, Lviv region;
fondi semi-hard cheese – WineTime, Kyiv region.
Silver awards went to:
korona hard cheese – Zinka, Kyiv region;
lopta flavored cheese – Mamyn cheese, Zakarpattia region.
About Lopta cheese and its creator
According to the Transcarpathian information and business portal uzhgorod.in, this cheese is created by Natalia Kovach from the village of Zolotaryovo in Khust district, the owner of the Mamyn Syry brand. For the competition, she presented her two best products, Vuyosh and Lopta. Although the cheesemaker had more hopes for Vuyosh, it was Lopta, created in blackout conditions, that won the jury.
“Lopta is a yogurt cheese rolled in black pepper and dry garlic, which combines the traditions of Swiss belper knolle and Lebanese shanklish. The cheese is formed into balls, aged in oil and dried, but it retains a delicate yogurt flavor with garlic notes. The product has a long shelf life of up to 2 years.
According to Oksana Chernova, ProCheese expert at Ardis Group and a judge from Ukraine at the World Cheese Awards, 8 awards is a great result at such a large-scale competition.
“For the third time, we prove that Ukrainian cheeses occupy a worthy place in the global market. I thank each cheesemaker for their courage and desire to develop. Such events give a good impetus to improvement, scaling, and searching for consumers,” said Oksana Chernova.
In total, Ukrainian cheeses have won 34 awards over the three years of participation in the competition.
