Big Wins for Prairie Farms at World Dairy Expo Contest

The 2022 World Dairy Expo Championship Dairy Product Contest just wrapped up, and the results are in. With a record number of entries from over 80 dairy companies, Prairie Farms Dairy and its family of companies received more awards than any other company, making Prairie Farms the reigning contest champion. The final tally came in at 44 awards with 12 first-place wins, 11 second place wins, 19 third-place wins, 1 Grand Champion win, and sweeping wins in several categories.

Prairie Farms was unstoppable in four categories, claiming all top spots:

• Regular Cottage Cheese Awards: 1st Prairie Farms Quincy, Ill; 2nd Prairie Farms Fort Wayne, Ind.; 3rd Prairie Farms Quincy, Ill.
• Low fat Cottage Cheese Awards: 1st Prairie Farms Quincy, Ill.; 2nd Belfonte, Kansas City, Mo.; 3rd Prairie Farms, Carbondale, Ill.
• Blueberry Yogurt Category Awards: 1st Hiland Dairy, Wichita, Kan.; 2nd Belfonte, Kansas City, Mo.; 3rd Prairie Farms, Quincy, Ill.
• Open Class Pasteurized Milk Awards: 1st Prairie Farms, Holland, Ind.; 2nd Hiland Dairy, Omaha, Neb.; 3rd Prairie Farms, Anderson, Ind.
• Hiland Dairy's Chandler, Okla., plant received the Grade A Grand Champion Award for its French Onion Dip. Other category wins included 15 fluid milk awards, six cheese awards, six cottage cheese awards, six yogurt awards, three sour cream dip awards, four whipping cream/half & half awards, two sour cream awards, and one ice cream award.

"We are honored to receive the awards. They validate our commitment to our farmer-owners to turn their high quality milk into the finest dairy products available," said Rebecca Leinenbach, vice president of marketing and communications for Prairie Farms. "Our success as this year's WDE top winning company demonstrates the strength of our farm-to-table network and the hard work of our farm families and team members. Once again, their effort delivered significant contest results, and we couldn't be more proud."

The WDE Championship Dairy Product Contest is one of the country's most prestigious dairy judging competitions held in the heart of dairy country, Madison, Wisconsin. Judges spent three days sampling and tasting a variety of dairy products, with winners gaining the right to declare themselves among the best in North America. A record 1,560 entries were submitted to this year's contest.