Ceredigion cheese company Caws Teifi Cheese is celebrating after winning one of the food and drink’s most recognised awards. The Great Taste awards, referred to as the ‘Oscars’ of the food world, were held in London recently and the company’s Celtic Promise cheese was crowned Golden Fork from Wales.

From the twelve Welsh products that received the top accolade of 3-stars at the Great Taste awards 2018, the Golden Fork from Wales, was awarded to Caws Teifi Cheese.

Caws Teifi Cheese is now the longest established artisan cheese maker in Wales, having produced award winning raw milk cheeses for over 30 years. Founded in 1982, by co-founder John Savage-Onstwedder, who came to Wales from Holland to set about following his dream of organic farming. He set about reviving the lost tradition of using raw milk and local ingredients to make high quality artisanal cheese.

The most highly-awarded British cheese, Celtic Promise, is a Caerphilly type washed-rind cheese with a slightly moist, pink rind. Soft and buttery as it matures it developed a slightly pungent aroma and has a delicate, mild flavour creating a delicious contrast with the rind. It is supple, smooth, spicy and aromatic. Celtic Promise is considered a ‘table cheese’ by some but it is also good to cook with when a strong, creamy flavour is required.

John Savage-Onstwedder comments,

“To be awarded 3 stars in the Great Taste Awards is a testament to the skill and dedication of the whole team here at Caws Teifi Cheese. It also reflects the quality of the milk produced here in Ceredigion and we must give credit to Mr & Mrs Williams of Cilcert Farm, Ffos-y-Ffin, Aberaeron who produce the milk that makes our cheese. That the most highly awarded cheese in Britain is produced here in Ceredigion proves that both Welsh milk and cheeses are something we can all be proud of”.

Congratulating Caws Teifi Cheese, the Welsh Government’s Cabinet Secretary for Energy, Planning and Rural Affairs, Lesley Griffiths AM said,

“Congratulations to Caws Teifi Cheese on their achievements in the Great Taste awards. It is very encouraging to see established, family run companies doing so well and being acknowledged for the hard work and commitment they put in to producing quality produce.

The awards are an important showcase of quality, innovation and outstanding taste from Welsh companies. They should be very proud and I wish them the very best for the future.”

Organised by the Guild of Fine Food, the Great Taste awards is the acknowledged benchmark for fine food and drink, and is described as the ‘Oscars’ of the food world.

An outstanding 153 products from Wales, from independent artisan producers to larger distributors, were recognised in this year’s Great Taste awards. With 110 Welsh products achieving 1-star, 31 getting 2-stars and 12 being deemed worthy of the 3-stars accolade.

A full list of Welsh Great Taste winners can be viewed here

For further information on Caws Teifi Cheese visit www.teificheese.co.uk