Their Flinders Estate Ash Brie and Flinders Estate Triple Cream Brie beat competitors from across the country to take out two of three finalist positions in the white mould cheese category.

Both of Unicorn Cheese’s brie products won gold medals at the NSW awards earlier in the year, to qualify for the national awards.

Known as the most prestigious dairy awards in the country, the Australian Grand Dairy Awards are the highest accolade for Australian dairy producers – celebrating the quality and excellence of Australia’s top cheeses, ice creams, milks, butter, gelato and more.

Production manager Graeme Bannister said it was a privilege to be announced as a fnialist for the fifth consecutive year.

“The Australian Grand Dairy Awards are the pinnacle of the year’s hard work by every person in every dairy company throughout Australia to try to be the best of best,” he said. 

“To win a gold through the year is great, to be named a finalist is very exciting for our company – and to win the category would be an absolute honour. We can’t wait to hear if we’re named a Grand Champion.”

Founded in 1977 by a Frenchman, Unicorn Cheese was the only cheese factory in Shoalhaven for a long time and has grown from a team of 10, to one of the largest employers in the Shoalhaven area with between 70 and 80 local staff.

This year, over 400 products across 19 categories were critiqued and put to the taste-tested by a 12-strong judging panel of cheese buyers, cheesemongers, chefs and technical experts, led by Chief Judge, Russell Smith, as well as US-based specialty cheese buyer, Mariah Christensen, and renowned Australian cheesemonger, Sonia Cousins.

“The Australian Grand Dairy Awards not only celebrate Australia’s finest dairy produce, but importantly, they acknowledge the achievements of the pioneering people, like Unicorn Cheese, who passionately dedicate their time to our industry,” Australian Grand Dairy Awards convener Alexandra Kury said. 

“The calibre of this year’s entries are the best we’ve seen in the Australian Grand Dairy Awards’ 20-year history, which is a testament to the world-class dairy producers we have here in our own backyard.”