The sustainable methods that Kingsmeade Cheese uses to make their award-winning artisan cheeses have scooped them another prize.
Masterton-based Miles and Janet King won a sustainability award at the Wellington on a Plate festival launch on Friday.
Mrs King said it was very exciting to receive the Mindfood Producer of the Year 2013 Sustainability Award.
"We are pretty pleased, it was a big night for us.
"They did say it was the most hotly-contested award."
The sustainability award is given to food producers that have proven practices in sustainability used throughout their businesses.
Kingsmeade's whole operation takes an environmental approach, said Mrs King.
"Our staff are multi-trained in all areas, we planted trees to sustain stock through a drought, and we use biodegradable chemicals."
They also use animal-friendly methods - they don't separate newborn lambs from their mothers and don't use sheep dogs.
The business already has scores of awards for their Opaki Manchego, Mount Bruce Havarti and other cheeses which are fondly named after areas in Wairarapa.
Mrs King decided to market the ewe and cow's milk cheeses after local places to give it a local flavour.
She said every award helps cement the company's reputation.
"It keeps the profile of the business in a customer's mind about what we are about."
She said the award is credit to Mr King and the team. "It's great for Miles for 15 years of hard work."
The business started in 1999 with Mr King's keen interest in using sheep milk to make cheese. Mr King had no cheese making experience at all, teaching himself the trade from books, the internet and other cheesemakers.
Now they have 13 different types of cheeses and their products are stocked all over New Zealand.
They began making ewe's milk cheeses with milk sourced from a flock of East Friesian sheep - a European breed known to be a top milk producer.
The sheep graze on wild herbs like chicory, plantain and lucerne, which they would normally eat in their native European environment.
Mrs King said they had been busy last week with extra demand from restaurants sourcing local produce for the Wellington on a Plate food festival.
The cheesemakers have also just been a part of a Topp Twins documentary on the evolution of farming in New Zealand because of their approach to farming.
The award prize is a feature article and radio interview on mindfood.com.
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