Two of Three Counties Feeds’ Cornish customers walked away with top honours at this year’s inaugural Great British Cheese Awards.

Phil Stansfield’s commitment to producing an “easy eating” blue cheese was rewarded in the “People’s Choice Award” category, with consumers voting the Cornish Blue their favourite. And in the hard cheese category, Giel Spierings beat off strong competition to win the top spot with his Cornish Gouda.

Phil says the mellow nature of the Cornish Blue makes it a winner: “It’s a good, popular family cheese as it’s soft, mild and easy eating. We wanted to produce a cheese that appeals to everyone,” he explains.

Phil developed The Cornish Cheese Company in 2001 as a way of adding value to the milk produced from the family's 220 cow Holstein Friesian herd at Knowle Farm on the edge of Bodmin. Cows yield 8,500-9,000 litres at 4.4% fat and 3.4% protein.

Having started with no prior experience of making cheese, most of the milk produced is now processed on farm into what is Cornwall’s only commercially made blue cheese - a product which has secured numerous award wins to date.

Securing the title of best “Hard cheese” is also one of many accolades Giel Spierings has received for the family’s original mature Gouda which is produced at Talvan Farm, Lanreath. However, Giel says this award category is a particularly challenging one to win.

He explains: “You’re up against cheddars and farmhouse cheeses, so for a Dutch cheese to win against that is fantastic. Gouda is very similar to cheddar, but it has a higher moisture level, which makes it creamy. It’s nutty and moist and has a distinct flavour.”

The family have turned to their Dutch heritage to hand produce a cheese in the same way Giel’s grandmother did in the second world war. Around a third of the milk produced by the 75 cow Holstein Friesian herd currently goes into making the cheese with plans to increase this to 50% by January. Cows are milked through two robots and yield 26 litres a cow a day ay 4.5% fat and 3.4% protein.

To produce milk with just the right level of fat and protein for cheese making, both Giel and Phil work closely with Three Counties Feeds’ Andy Hawken to ensure the diet is formulated correctly.

Andy explains: “To achieve their high quality milk, the cows are on superior quality, fixed formulated feeds. I have regular meetings to discuss the diet and herd progress and regularly walk around the cows to ensure they are healthy and that feed intakes are good and dung consistency is right. The team approach works well and the cows are happy and content, which means all of the hard work is paying off and going into producing outstanding, high quality cheese. I am delighted that they have both won top awards. It’s the icing on the cake and reward for the years of hard work, dedication and care both farms put into making their fantastic cheeses.”