Waipukurau’s Lindsay Farm impresses Food Producer Awards judges

Waipukurau’s Lindsay Farm Dairy has picked up two gold awards at the 2024 Outstanding Food Producer Awards.

Waipukurau’s Lindsay Farm Dairy has picked up two gold awards at the 2024 Outstanding Food Producer Awards.

Lindsay Farm’s Organic A2 Pasteurised Milk and its Organic A2 Raw Milk both won golds in the Leefield Station Dairy Category.

Judging covered 358 products from the 122 producers entered, with judges allocating marks for aroma, visual appearance, taste and flavour, consistency and quality. Environmental and socially sustainable business practices make up 10 per cent of each product’s final mark.

Divided into either six or eight panels on each of the two consecutive judging days, judges bite, nibble, sip and devour products across seven categories: paddock, water, earth, chocolate, dairy, drinks, and “free from” (products made specifically to be without conventional ingredients, eg wheat).

Judging is double-blind, with only a simplified list of ingredients provided to the taste panels.

Judges said Lindsay Farm Organic A2 pasteurised milk had a “Pleasantly strong aroma, a great quality product, luxurious and silky. Well balanced with a rich mouthfeel.”

Lindsay Farm Dairy Organic A2 raw milk was described as having a “light aroma, smooth, well distributed product appearance, hard to fault. Beautiful balanced flavour. Very rich and creamy. Judges would buy.”

The high-scoring gold medal winners are in contention for Category Champion Awards, which will be announced at the annual Champions Party on Thursday, April 18.

Between June and September, Winner Events are hosted throughout New Zealand where award-winning products are showcased, including cooking classes held in Auckland.

The judges are led by author and champion of New Zealand producers Lauraine Jacobs, who heads up more than 30 leading New Zealand food and drink experts, including food writers, chefs and food judges.

There is also a panel of specialist sustainability judges including Emily King, founder of Spira, and Fiona Stephenson, marketing manager of the Sustainable Business Network.

The Outstanding Food Producer Awards recognise producers of all sizes, value the importance of authenticity, endorse primary produce as well as added-value products and reward innovation and sustainability.

Producers benefit from the expertise of a diverse cohort of industry experts, ranging from Elle Coco of the British Academy of Chocolate and International Chocolate Awards to former French Cafe owner Connie Clarkson, top-class chef and culinary lecturer Geoff Scott and famed chef, food writer, and restaurateur Peter Gordon.

Head judge Jacobs says the awards and judging process become more professional and refined by the year. An internationally respected food writer and author, she is particularly impressed by the consistently high quality of fresh produce submitted.

She declares New Zealand’s food and wine “really the very best”, highlighting our red meats, fish and milk.

Lindsay Farm took to its Facebook page to announce the wins, saying they were a “fantastic result for our wee team here, incredibly proud of them for working so hard and achieving this. And thank you again to our amazing community, we don’t do this without you.”