Sussex cheese named among world's best at awards ceremony

High Weald Dairy, in Tremaines Farm near Haywards Heath, took home the Super Gold Award at the World Cheese Awards, recently held in Newport in Wales.

Its Seven Sisters cheese, made with sheep’s milk and featuring a Hebridean seaweed coating, won the prize after competing with over 4,000 other varieties of cheese.

Stephen Saunders, from High Weald Dairy, said: “For us as cheese makers it’s quite an accolade. There are not many artisan cheese makers left so it is fantastic for the staff to achieve that.

The Seven Sisters Cheese, topped with Hebridean Seaweed (Image: High Weald Dairy)

“To get recognised as a bronze would be lucky so to get the Super Gold Award... we are still pinching ourselves.”

Mark Hardy, also from the dairy, said: “Having the seal of approval from so many experts in the cheese world is priceless for a cheesemaker. At the dairy, we put everything we have into our cheeses and only strive to make the best for our customers, so winning this trophy proves it’s all been worth it.”

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The World Cheese Awards, which were originally meant to be held in Kyiv, were moved to Wales following the outbreak of war in Ukraine.

Over 40 countries submitted cheese to the awards, including France and Spain, Argentina and Slovenia.

The High Weald Dairy team (Image: High Weald Dairy)

Each cheese was scored on aspects such as the appearance of the rind and paste, as well as aroma, body and texture. The cheeses were primarily scored on flavour.

The Seven Sisters cheese is made by being matured for three months before being coated in fresh organic seaweed.

The cheese is described by the dairy as having “a fresh nuttiness, and the seaweed coating makes it difficult to resist".

High Weald Dairy previously won a Super Gold Award at the World Cheese Awards in 2019, where it won for its Brighton Blue cheese. This is the first time the dairy has won for a sheep’s cheese.