Wisconsin Cheese companies surpassed all other states and claimed the Grand Champion Award in the recent World Dairy Expo Championship Dairy Product Contest.

The contest is sponsored by Wisconsin Dairy Products Association (WDPA), the only Wisconsin trade association that represents all segments of the dairy industry. It attracted 820 entries – a record number – for cheese and additional dairy products from companies throughout North America.

Sartori Company took top overall honors for its Reserve BellaVitano Gold Cheese. Wisconsin companies had 60 awards in all, more than 32% of those given.  Runner-up was New York with 24 awards.  Thirty-six of the 60 Wisconsin awards were in the cheese segment of the contest, representing half of those given. Additionally, Wisconsin swept nine categories, taking first, second and third place awards. They are Aged Cheddar, Brick-Muenster, Blue-Veined, Flavored Natural, Cold Pack-Cheese Food and Cheese Spread, Unflavored Pasteurized Processed Cheese, Goat Milk Cheese, Open Class Hard Cheese and Whey Protein Concentrate 34%.

This contest marked the 11^th year of sponsorship for WDPA, an organization active in regulatory and educational programming. Complete results can be found at http://www.wdpa.net/.