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RECORD ENTRIES TO INTERNATIONAL CHEESE AWARDS 2011
More than 3,700 cheese makers entered their produce for this year’s International Cheese Awards, creating a world record for entries to any cheese show.
The event, in its 114th year, is the biggest of its kind. Today (Tuesday) will see 140 expert judges taste a grand total of 3,730 cheese and dairy products across 300 categories with entries up more than 10% on last year. Each is vying to be crowned the show’s Supreme Champion.
This year’s awards will see 26 countries’ products represented and to reflect the true international flavour of the show. It is expected that more than 4,000 visitors from the trade will come to witness the awards.
There are 73 trade stands in a giant air-conditioned marquee, featuring all types of cheese – from small artisan producers housed in a specialist cheesemaker section sponsored by Waitrose, to big hitters – and show sponsors – such as Asda, Tesco and Cooperative Food.
Other show sponsors will also be out in force, including Avilton Foods, Bradbury & Son, Cathedral City, Bel UK, Fudges Biscuits, Milk Link, Wyke farms and international sponsors Le Gruyere and Emmi. The International Cheese Awards is an important event in the dairy calendar, and is the place where the industry converges.
The International Cheese Awards is a registered charity, and all proceeds will be donated to good causes.
This year the aim of the organisers is to promote what the International Cheese Awards means to consumers – and what they can expect when they buy a product featuring a bronze, silver or gold Awards logo.
Show Chairman Richard Paul said: “This is the biggest and best International Cheese Awards yet. We’ve had a record amount of entries, we’ve got more sponsors than ever and we have more categories – what we do here in Nantwich eclipses every other show of its kind.
“Following the show we will be working hard to get the message out to consumers about what it means to select a winning product with an International Cheese Award – we want to be recognised as THE standard for quality.
“Because of the rigorous judging process, consumers can be assured that if they see a gold, silver or bronze International Cheese Awards label on a product it has been judged, by experts, as outstanding.”
Tomorrow (Wednesday) around 40,000 members of the public are expected to attend the International Cheese Awards marquee as part of the Nantwich Agricultural Show.
THE GOOD LIFE GROWS FOR THE REGIONAL AGRICULTURAL SHOWS
International Cheese Awards is set to break all previous records
With cheese makers and connoisseurs attending from all over the world to display their wares next week, the International Cheese Awards (ICA) in Nantwich is quite simply the world’s largest cheese show.
Housed in a huge 70,000 square ft air-conditioned marquee as part of the famous Nantwich Agricultural Show, the International Cheese Awards last year saw 3,240 entries from 24 countries. This year there are over 3,700 entries to the awards from 209 cheese manufacturers representing the who’s who of the UK and international cheese making and dairy industry.
“It’s been the same story for most of the regional shows around the country,” explains Richard Paul, Chairman of the ICA.
“Since the sad demise of the Royal Show in Stoneleigh, Gloucestershire in 2009, its incredible to see that the regional shows are doing really well and that both visitor and exhibitor numbers are up year on year.
“It’s the ‘Good Life’ effect; more and more people are interested in growing and producing their own food or simply understanding where it comes from more than ever before. Some of that is due to the recession and some of it just better education – but whatever the reason, our British shows are thriving.”
The Great Yorkshire show held over four days at the beginning of July in Harrogate has also seen visitor and exhibitor numbers steadily climb. Cheese & Dairy award entries steadily increased from just 310 entries in 2002 to 852 entries in 2011. Whilst general visitor attendance over the four days has climbed from 126,376 in 2008 to 135,086 in 2011. Likewise, the livestock entries for the agricultural show climbed from 8,463 in 2002 to 12,713 in 2011.
The Royal Bath & West show which took place over four days in June also saw an increase in visitors from 154,000 in 2010 to 160,000 in 2011 – as well as seeing a record amount of entries in their cheese show of just under 900 and over 10,000 competitive entries and 1100 different classes spread across various livestock, cheese and even wrought iron.
“It’s a heartening picture for the shows to see such great attendance – the International Cheese Awards are attracting more people each year as part of the Nantwich Agricultural show – and given that we’ll only be open to the public for one day (Wednesday July 27, 2011), and we’re expecting around 40,000 visitors that day alone – that makes it the largest one day show in the country,” concludes Richard Paul.
Celebrities Join This Year’s International Cheese Awards
The International Cheese Awards is gearing up for another record-breaking event this year with the backing of celebrity chefs Gino D’Acampo and James Martin. Joining them will be Sean Wilson (Coronation Street’s Martin Platt) for the third year running, and Alex James (former bassist with Blur), who have both swapped TV and music careers to become independent cheesemakers.
All four will be judges at this year’s International Cheese Awards, with James and Gino cooking up their favourite cheese dishes on the Wednesday when the show is open to the public and Sean Wilson selling and promoting his range of award-winning cheeses.
ALEX JAMES
Best known as the bass player of Blur, Alex James is food writer for The Sun and regularly contributes to several other papers and magazines. Alex produces cheese at his farm in Oxfordshire and his new book, ‘All Cheeses Great and Small’ is due out later this year.
JAMES MARTIN
James is presenter of BBC1’s hugely successful Saturday Kitchen and was a regular team member on BBC2’s Ready Steady Cook. In Autumn 2006 he gained a whole new army of fans after reaching the semi-finals of Strictly Come Dancing.
GINO D’ACAMPO
In 2009, Gino scored a spectacular success, winning the title King of the Jungle on ITV’s hit series I’m a Celebrity – Get me Out of Here!. He is currently resident chef on ITV’s This Morning.
SEAN WILSON
Best known for playing Martin Platt in Coronation Street. Since the launch of The Saddleworth Cheese Company in 2009, Sean has picked up a number of dairy awards. He has also recently announced that his cheese range is available in Harrods.
The Big Cheeses Come to Nantwich
An event hosted in Nantwich this summer will see more than 25 tons of cheese, thirty five thousand visitors, five TV celebrities and 71 exhibitors from 26 countries descend on the town.
The International Cheese Awards, now in its 114th year, is now the world’s largest cheese show. Exhibitors from as far-flung as Australia will join in the awards for two days of fun, culminating in which one cheese producer picking up the coveted ‘Supreme Champion’ prize. This year entries into the awards have shot up 14% with over 3,700 competition applications received.
There’s also the added bonus of five celebrity foodies. TV chefs Gino D’Acampo and James Martin, Sean Wilson, formerly of Coronation Street and Alex James from the band Blur will all be joining in the cheese fun and making an appearance at the event, even getting involved in the judging. With Dhruv Baker, who was crowned champion of Masterchef, the popular BBC cooking series in 2010, appearing on the Dairy Crest (Cathedral City) stand.
Richard Paul, chair of the International Cheese Awards, said: “This will be the biggest awards we’ve ever hosted and we’re pretty confident that it’s the first time this much cheese has been in one place at any one time!”
The event will be held at Dorfold Park in Nantwich and will run over two days. Tuesday 26th July will be the judging day and Wednesday 27th July the open visitor day. The event is housed in a huge 70,000 square ft air-conditioned marquee as part of the famous Nantwich Agricultural Show.
The ultimate in cheesy days out, Wednesday 27th July 2011
If cheese, and lots of it, is your thing then stop by at the International Cheese Awards, this year being held on Wednesday, July 27th in picturesque Nantwich, Cheshire.
Around 600 cheese makers, from tiny artisan producers to big brands, will be displaying and, more importantly, allowing you to sample, their wares at the 114 year-old event.
Judging for the awards, which attracts around 30,000 visitors annually, will have taken place the day before by a panel of industry experts, so you can be reassured that any award-winning cheese you spot will be absolutely top-notch. Last year a Parmesan from Bradbury & Sons (Ferrari Parmigiano Reggiano available from Waitrose) was crowned Supreme Champion.
As well as a giant air-conditioned marquee full of fromage, attractions at the event, which is part of the Nantwich Agricultural Show, will include demonstrations by Celebrity Chefs Gino D’Acampo and James Martin. Actor turned cheesemaker Sean Wilson, otherwise known as Coronation Street’s Martin Platt, will also be at the show with his range of cheeses.
The event, which donates all proceeds to charity, is held in beautiful Dorford Park, Nantwich. Reduced price advance tickets, available from 01270 780306, are £18 for adults, £13 for OAPS, £7 for children (under fives free) or a family ticket (two adults, two children) £35. Tickets are also available on the day.
