Cheesemakers, David Wareham and Kelly McLeish celebrating the recent awards won by Yea Brand Cheese. Photo Sam Hicks.
By Carol Hopkins
T
ucked away in a quiet backstreet in Yea is a small cheese factory that, for many years, has been scooping up big awards in state and national competitions. Just this year, the Yea Brand Dairy took out gold medals in the Dairy Industry Association of Australia Awards for Excellence with their crème fraiche, mascarpone and vintage cheese products. And it
wasn’t the first time. Since 2013, the company has been steadily accruing a host of gold and silver medals for their products. In 2014, they topped these achievements when their crème fraiche was crowned Champion Cream Product in the Australian Grand Dairy Awards, a national competition that celebrates quality, excellence and innovation in dairy produce. This was an incredibly
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significant achievement, especially for a company that only has two regular employees. As Andrew Kirk, Manager of Yea Brand Dairy, explains, “Out of all the cream, any type of cream, the Yea Brand Dairy was crowned the best in Australia.” In 2019 the company was runner-up for this award. When asked for the secret of his company’s success, Andrew has no Murrindindi Guide – SUMMER 2021/22 – 19
