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Greg Nielsen scoops filling from an ice cream sandwich while judging the healthy frozen desserts category during last month's World Dairy Expo Championship Dairy Product Contest at Madison Area Technical College in Madison. The contest yielded several winners from Wisconsin.
Wisconsin dairy producers certainly are consistent.
They dominate the World and U.S. Championship Cheese Contests that are held on alternating years each March and presented by the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association.
But that's also the case with another growing competition, the Madison-based World Dairy Expo Championship Dairy Product Contest.
Wisconsin companies took top honors in 28 of the 94 product categories, swept the top three spots in six categories and churned out one of the three best-of-show winners, according to results from last month's three-day event at Madison Area Technical College.
Lake Country Dairy, a subsidiary of Schuman Cheese and based in Turtle Lake in far northwestern Wisconsin, swept the Mascarpone category with its Cello Mascarpone selected as the cheese and butter Grand Champion. The cheese, made from fresh milk and sweet cream, is ideal filling cannolis or using in a tiramisu recipe, according to the company's website. Lake Country also had first-place finishes in the hard Italian cheese and flavored natural cheese categories.
Bob Bradley, left, and Katherine Grosz judge the salted caramel category of ice cream during the final day of judging at last months World Dairy Expo Championship Dairy Product Contest at Madison Area Technical College. More than 1,550 dairy products were entered in the contest.
A French onion dip made by Hiland Dairy in Chandler, Oklahoma, was selected as the Grade A Grand Champion, while chocolate ice cream produced by Southeastern Grocers, in Jacksonville, Florida, was the Ice Cream Grand Champion.
Products in the contest included cheese, butter, fluid milk, yogurt, cottage cheese, ice cream, sour cream, sherbet, cultured milk, sour cream dips, whipping cream, whey and creative and innovative products from dairy processors throughout North America.
“This year's contest was a record-breaker, reflecting how much dairy processors have come to embrace this unique and special event," said Brad Legreid, executive director of the Wisconsin Dairy Products Association which conducts the annual contest. "As the only all-dairy product contest of its kind in the world, the dairy industry has quickly learned the myriad benefits accrued from participating in the contest. Winning companies parlay their success into unprecedented marketing and retail sales opportunities, while other companies receive valuable insights from the fifty highly-trained sensory experts whom judge their products."
Bundled up in a minus 20 degree freezer, an employee at Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream on Madison's East Side, carries a container of ice cream last month. The company recently completed a $5 million expansion and took home three first place awards for its ice cream at the World Dairy Expo Championship Dairy Products Contest.
In addition, the first-place winners will be auctioned off on Oct. 4 at World Dairy Expo in Madison with a portion of the proceeds used to fund scholarships awarded annually to students pursuing careers in the dairy industry.
The contest was founded in 2003 when there were just 100 entries but has seen continued growth and this year had 1,560 entries from throughout North America.
Other winners of note included the Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream Company of Madison that had the top mint ice cream, took the Philly Vanilla category with its Vanilla Bean ice cream and placed first in the open class ice cream category with its London Fog, described on the company's website as a "creamy and smooth Earl Grey tea latte re-imagined as your new favorite ice cream."
In this image from February, workers with Crave Brothers Farmstead Cheese package up fresh balls of mozzarella.
Kwik Trip's dairy plant in La Crosse took first place in the cookies and cookie dough ice cream category with its Brookie Dough Ice Cream, while Sassy Cow Creamery in Columbus had the top vanilla ice cream in the contest and the best white 2% milk.
Crave Brothers Farmstead Cheese in Waterloo, celebrating its 20th year, had the best plain cheese curd and also was tops in the mozzarella category with its fresh marinated mozzarella. Foremost Farms in Reedsburg won the salted butter category, Prairie Farms Dairy in Shullsburg produced the top baby Swiss while Lactalis in Belmont placed first in the feta cheese category.
Rachel Evans washes Ayrshire cows from Sunny Acres Farm in Georgetown, N.Y. World Dairy Expo draws about 2,000 cows from North America that take part in shows throughout the week.
Mike Maier, right, of Lazy M Farm in Stitzer, with his sister, Laura, at left, and Mike Fiedler, work together to unload hay from a trailer during setup Friday for World Dairy Expo.
The cows have returned to World Dairy Expo after the week-long event was canceled in 2020 due to COVID-19. The Expo begins in full on Tuesday, but on Friday animals began to arrive at the Alliant Energy Center. From left, Dr. Shelby Molina and Dr. Ellen Hooker, both with the state Department of Trade and Consumer Protection's Animal Health, check in a Jersey cow for Allen Berry of Sherwood, Ore.
Dalton Anderson, of Seward, Neb., with the help of Joe Odden, at left, of Sioux Falls, S.D., hangs signs for the Jersey cows from Misty Meadow Dairy in Tillamook, Ore.
Jon Schmidt, of Bloomer, unloads fans for cattle ahead of this year's Expo. Warm temperatures are expected in the days ahead.
Workers set up the World Dairy Expo gift shop inside Exhibition Hall at Alliant Energy Center. The show begins Tuesday and runs through Saturday.
Pins for sale at the World Dairy Expo gift shop inside the exhibition hall at Alliant Energy Center in Madison, Wis., Friday, Sept. 24, 2021. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
Noah Mensch, of Grand Rapids, Michigan, positions a bedding machine by Mensch Manufacturing for display in the parking lot of the exhibition hall during setup for the World Dairy Expo at Alliant Energy Center in Madison, Wis., Friday, Sept. 24, 2021. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
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Barry Adams covers regional and business news for the Wisconsin State Journal.
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Greg Nielsen scoops filling from an ice cream sandwich while judging the healthy frozen desserts category during last month's World Dairy Expo Championship Dairy Product Contest at Madison Area Technical College in Madison. The contest yielded several winners from Wisconsin.
Bob Bradley, left, and Katherine Grosz judge the salted caramel category of ice cream during the final day of judging at last months World Dairy Expo Championship Dairy Product Contest at Madison Area Technical College. More than 1,550 dairy products were entered in the contest.
Bundled up in a minus 20 degree freezer, an employee at Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream on Madison's East Side, carries a container of ice cream last month. The company recently completed a $5 million expansion and took home three first place awards for its ice cream at the World Dairy Expo Championship Dairy Products Contest.
In this image from February, workers with Crave Brothers Farmstead Cheese package up fresh balls of mozzarella.
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