Redhead Creamery, of Brooten, has been named among the winners at the World Cheese Awards, which was held at the Trondheim Spektrum, Norway, on Friday, Oct. 27.

Amidst a field of 4,502 entries, the Lucky Linda Clothbound Cheddar, a Mild Traditional Cheddar cheese made by Redhead Creamery, LLC, secured the coveted gold award in the world’s most distinguished cheese-only competition, it was announced in a news release last week.  The company’s only other entry, St. Anthony, placed Silver in the hard cow’s milk cheese category. 

The Lucky Linda Clothbound Cheddar impressed a panel of leading cheese experts, including critics, chefs, recipe creators, buyers, retailers, journalists, broadcasters and experts in the field. These experts meticulously evaluated each cheese, considering factors such as the appearance of the rind and paste, the cheese’s aroma, body, texture, and most notably, its flavour and mouthfeel.

The award-winning Lucky Linda is made as a traditional clothbound Cheddar utilizing animal rennet and full cheddaring process. This is a pasteurized whole milk cheese made on a farmstead dairy ripened for at least 6 months prior to release. The cheese won first place this spring in the U.S. Championship Cheese Contest in its category and is the first cheese made at the company, in honor of farmer, cheesemaker and owner Linda Jennissen.

 “We are delighted to have won a gold and silver award at this year’s World Cheese Awards. The Lucky Linda has really evolved as our cheesemaking team hones our craft. It’s awesome that the cheese named after my mom is finally getting some recognition this year,” Alise Sjostrom, president at Redhead Creamery commented. “Having the seal of approval from so many cheese experts on the global stage is truly priceless for a cheesemaker. At Redhead Creamery, we pour our hearts and souls into crafting the finest cheeses and strive to make the best for our customers, so winning this prestigious accolade proves our hard work has all been worth it.”

A remarkable 4,502 cheeses were submitted for the 35th edition of the World Cheese Awards, marking a 6% increase from the previous year. These entries represented 43 countries and garnered participation from 954 companies across the world (7.23% UK-based, 92.77% international).  Notably, the competition featured return entries from relative newcomer entrants in recent years including Poland, India, Liechtenstein and Turkey amongst others. Well-established cheese-producing nations such as Italy, Spain, France and the United Kingdom were well represented by both returning contenders and newcomers, with the highest number of entries coming from Spain. Host country Norway put forward their highest ever number of entries, with 293 Norwegian cheeses competing this year. Across the competition, a vast range of styles and maturations were on display, showcasing a diverse array of milks including buffalo, cow, goat and sheep.

All entries were judged in a single day, as 264 experts from 38 different nations studied their appearance, texture, aroma, and flavour. Bronze, Silver, Gold and Super Gold accolades were awarded during the morning session before the Super Golds were reassessed to find this year’s top 16 cheeses, from which the World Champion Cheese for 2023 was selected and crowned.

Readers can find Lucky Linda and their other award-winning cheeses in their second annual 12-days of Cheesemas Advent Calendar, which can be preordered now and will be delivered in early December from www.redheadcreamery.com. (Direct link – http://bit.ly/Cheesemas-23)