Thomastown’s Floridia Cheese cream of the crop at dairy awards

A Thomastown cheese maker says success at the Australian Dairy Product Competition is the result of traditional cheese making, passionate staff and good milk.

Floridia Cheese production manager Fabio Portella and cheese maker Marco Frau.

The Australian dairy industry’s love of Thomastown cheeses has continued with Floridia Cheese taking out a stash of silver and gold medals at the 2019 Australian Dairy Product Competition.

Floridia Cheese production manager Fabio Portella said the secret to the company’s success was “a culmination of traditional cheese making practices, new technologies, good milk and passionate staff”.

“The award gives us more recognition and validation within the industry,” Mr Portella said.

Floridia Cheese’s Pecorino Pepato won gold in the very hard cheese category, their Burrata won the pasta filata category and their Buffalo Ricotta was the highest scoring non bovine product.

Floridia Cheese products to scoop silver awards included a chilli pecorino, parmesan and bocconcini.

Mr Portella said the company exported soft cheeses to Indonesia and Malaysia and would now set its sights on exporting its hard cheeses.

Floridia’s success at the dairy product competition comes on the back of wins at the 2019 Australian Grand Dairy Awards in January.