Western Australia has once again proven its prowess in dairy excellence, with local producers rising to the top at the 2025 Perth Royal Dairy Awards. Almost in its 70th year, the annual celebration recognises the very best in dairy products.
This year’s awards – held on Friday 27 June – received an impressive 217 entries from 26 exhibitors, with products submitted from five states. The results showcased outstanding craftsmanship and quality across a diverse range of categories.
Entries spanned cheese, milk, yoghurt, ice cream, gelato and more – all rigorously assessed by an expert panel of judges for flavour, texture, presentation and overall quality. As part of the Perth Royal Food Awards judging approach, all products are assessed anonymously, meaning the judges and panel do not know which product they are evaluating, ensuring the integrity and impartiality of the awards.
Taking top honours on the night was Cambray Cheese (Cundinup), awarded Champion Overall Dairy Product for their standout entry, Farmhouse Gold. The family operated cheesemakers, located in the Southwest, took home a total of five trophies and four gold medals.
Tom Wilde, representing the family owned Cambray Cheese, said:
“We’ve just taken out the Perth Royal Food Awards for Champion Overall Dairy Product with our Farmhouse Gold, a sheep’s milk cheese produced on our farm and aged for about 12 months using a Dutch-style recipe we’ve developed over 12 years.
“It’s really nice to get that recognition. When you enter these awards and win a big prize, it gives the whole family and staff a morale boost. It makes all the hard work feel worthwhile, because dairy farming and cheesemaking is a tough gig – so we’re proud to enter, be recognised, and receive that accolade.”
This year’s Champion Award Winners included:
- Cambray Cheese (Cundinup): Champion Overall Dairy Product, Champion WA Dairy Product, Champion Cheese, Champion WA Cheese and Champion Buffalo, Camel, Goat or Sheep Milk Product for their Farmhouse Gold.
- Lactalis – Harvey Fresh (Forestdale): Most Successful WA Dairy Exhibitor and Champion Milk – Unflavoured for their Farmhouse Gold Unhomogenised Milk.
- La Delizia (Albany): Champion Bovine Cheese for their Burrata.
- Brownes Food Operations Pty Ltd (Balcatta): Champion Yogurt for their Brownes Dairy The Greek Honey Sweetened Yoghurt 1kg
- Jay’s Dairy (Malaga): Champion Ice Cream for their Kulfi – Anjeer (Fig)
- Gelavita Gelato Holdings Pty Ltd (Malaga): Champion Gelato for their Mascarpone and Orange and Champion Other Product for their Cassata
- Bannister Downs Dairy (Northcliffe): Champion Milk – Flavoured for their Mango Smoothie and Champion Cream for their Double Cream
- The Butter People (Bentley): Champion Butter for their Herb & Chilli
The 2025 award ceremony was opened by the President of the Royal Agricultural Society of Western Australia, Mr John Snowball.
Phil Depiazzi, Dairy Farmer and WA Farmers Dairy Council member also took to the microphone as MC for the evening as producers, judges and industry figures came together to celebrate another outstanding year in dairy production.
Chief Judge and WA Dairy Farmer, Ros Garstone said: “I’m very proud of our local dairy industry. These awards offer producers the chance to benchmark their products against national standards used in competitions across Australia. It’s not so much about competing with each other, but about understanding how their products measure up against industry benchmarks.
“WA and Australia-wide dairy is a very special industry. It’s a lot of hard work, so it’s really lovely to see the results of that dedication shine through during judging.”
A special mention goes to the Champion Bovine Cheese award presented to La Delizia (Albany) for its Burrata which received full marks from all judges – an extraordinary and exceptionally rare achievement.
The Perth Royal Dairy Awards, presented by the Royal Agricultural Society of WA (RASWA) forms part of the Perth Royal Food Awards – an annual celebration of excellence in Australian food and drink production.
More information about the 2025 Perth Royal Dairy Awards and a full list of winners is available in the official Results Catalogue.
ENDS.
Media Contact
Nikki McKeown
PR & Communications Officer
Royal Agricultural Society of WA
0412 508 435
media@raswa.org.au
The Perth Royal Food Awards have become an important part of the agricultural industry in WA and carry longstanding traditions dating back over 150 years. The awards form part of the mission of the Royal Agricultural Society of WA (RASWA) to encourage and reward excellence and support a viable and prosperous future for agricultural communities.