Cornish Kern from the UK named World Champion Cheese 2017

21 November 2017 by Lisa Jenkins

Cornish Kern, a unique alpine-style cheese made by Lynher Dairies Cheese Company in the UK has been crowned World Champion Cheese at the 30th annual World Cheese Awards

The buttery medium-hard cheese, with a deep aroma and caramel notes, beat more than 3,000 entries that were judged last week at Tobacco Dock in London with the 30th anniversary edition of the awards forming part of this year's Taste of London Festive Edition.

Cathy Strange, global executive coordinator for Whole Foods Market in the US, championed the cheese during the final round of judging, and described it as: "Visually stunning, with its standout dark rind and the quality of milk really evident in this cheese. It has an amazing age and a complexity, which keeps on coming. This is a super cheese and I would be glad to have it on any table."

Sarah Barnes, technical manager at Lynher Dairies Cheese Company, who collected the award in London, said: "I'm on top of the cheese world! Throughout the course of the day our Kern went through so many layers of judging, going from 3,001 to 66, to the top 16 and then World Champion and the judges said some wonderful things about it. Cornish Kern is a new concept so to see it come to this is so exciting for the company, and a great start for this cheese's career."

Cornish Kern was awarded 75 points out of a possible 80 by a panel of 16 judges, just ahead of an Italian Blu Di Bufala made by Quattro Portoni Caseificio in second place with 69 points. In joint third, were an Austrian Capellaro from Almenland Stollenkaese and a South African Dalewood Huguenot made by Dalewood Fromage, both scoring 67 points.

John Farrand, managing director of the Guild of Fine Food, organisers of the World Cheese Awards, commented: "The competition was immense this year, with more nations represented than ever before, so bravo to Lynher Dairies for taking the top gong on this truly international stage. Cornish Kern is a perfect example of cheesemaking at its finest, so it's wonderful to see this small team receive such recognition for their craft and a heartfelt pat on the back from the global cheese community."

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