Sugar Brook Farms Wins First World Award with CheddaBlu, Announces Two New Additions to “Chedda” Line
VERONA, Wisconsin—This March, in Madison, Wisconsin, Sugar Brook Farms woke the World by winning its first-ever competitive award, and at no less than the 26th biennial World Championship Cheese Competition. Competing among nearly 1,800 cheeses representing 19 different countries, CheddaBlu took Best in Class for Class 37, Spreadable Cheeses with a near-perfect score: 98 points out of a possible 100.
“We haven’t put CheddaBlu in many competitions—it’s still a fairly new cheese,” says Sugar Brooks’ Kelly Longseth. “Winning this particular award establishes CheddaBlu as the gold standard in its class: It’s what every other spreadable cheddar-blue cheese product will be compared to.”
Adds President Steve McKeon, “This award also tells us that sticking to our vision of what we wanted this product to be, and not stopping short of that vision in any way, was definitely the right thing to do.”
That same persistence in staying true to their vision is behind two new Sugar Brook Chedda’s: Ready by early summer will be CheddaDew and CheddaBrew, both in 12/7-oz. retail packs and 3/2# tubs.
CheddaDew is McKeon’s brainchild, conceived nearly two years ago after tasting the South African fruit Peppadew. Now that the pickled peppery-sweet fruit is reliably and cost effectively available in the States, McKeon’s spreadable CheddaDew is underway. “We took it to the National Restaurant Show this past May and had a tremendously positive response,” says Longseth. “We think it’ll be a great item for chefs and caterers—it really goes with everything: burgers, breadsticks, tortilla chips, as a spread for all sorts of snack and sandwich breads, and hors d’oeuvres.
“Chefs – and retailers, too – want quality and uniqueness in a versatile product. CheddaDew really delivers on that,” she adds.
As for CheddaBrew, a lusty combination of Cheddar cheese and beer, it “just seemed to make sense,” says Longseth. “It’s an idea that’s certainly within the CheddaBlu family, and it plays on the trends of pub food, bar menus and bar-as-neighborhood-gathering-place for people who appreciate good food.”
What really makes these cheeses so worthy of their newly recognized Best in Class status, muses Longseth, “is the way you get their taste. The first taste you get is that real Cheddar flavor. Real Cheddar, not something less. The next wave is the secondary flavor— the blue cheese, the Peppadew or the beer. That’s what makes these so distinctive, and what the World judges saw as Best in Class material.”
In addition to CheddaBlu, CheddaBrew and CheddaDew Retail and Bulk Cheese Spreads, Sugar Brook offers other savory cheese spreads, cheeseballs and deli cakes, as well as a luscious line of dessert cheeseballs.
For information on Sugar Brook products, contact Kelly Longseth at
608-347-9566 or sugarbrookfarms@charter.net.
Chef2Chef News Desk