The cheese was named Champion White Mould Cheese at the awards ceremony in Melbourne earlier this week.

Snow Brand created the Kingaroy Cheese Bunya Black.

The company usually produces four tonnes of cheese a day for Unicorn Cheese, but will now continue its contract with the Brisbane based company.

Snow Brand Australia production manager Graeme Banister said it was an honour to be crowned champion for the cheese.

“To finally be named a winner after being a finalist in the Australian Grand Dairy Awards four times before has us all very proud,” he said.

“The Kingaroy Cheese Bunya Black is a product we’ve only been producing for about six months, so this award really shows we’re on the right track.”

The cheese wowed the country’s 13 most discerning cheese judges to take out the title.

Australian Grand Dairy Awards chief judge Neil Willman said the Kingaroy Cheese Bunya Black was a difficult cheese to make.

“This triple cream cheese with a layer of vine ash has the perfect balance of earthy and buttery notes,” he said.

“The fine rind makes this cheese a tasty and visually stunning addition to your Christmas cheese platter, or a great cheese to bring in the New Year with a glass of good bubbly.”

This year’s Australian Grand Dairy Awards saw almost 400 products across 20 different classes put through their paces in a rigorous and highly technical judging process by a team of expert judges. 

Each product was tasted, tested and assessed for flavour, aroma, body, texture, colour and appearance to identify the highest scoring products.

Kingaroy Cheese Bunya Black’s win means the Australian Grand Dairy Awards medal will feature on its packaging.

The awards recognise and reward excellence, quality and innovation in Australian dairy produce.

To be eligible products must be made from Australian milk and awarded gold at state qualifying competitions.