The Central Coast’s own Little Creek Cheese has taken out nine awards at the 2024 Sydney Royal Cheese and Dairy Produce Awards.
Entries in the annual awards, run in conjunction with the Sydney Royal Easter Show, come from far and wide and the small family owned and operated cheese factory saw all nine of the cheeses it entered for judging take an award.
Little Creek Cheese took one gold, three silver and five bronze awards.
The business, based at Wyong, has been in operation for 13 years and is owned and run by Russell and Sue Parsons and their son Alex Nelson.
“There’s no luck in our cheese making, it’s just time, care and love that make our cheeses amazing,” Sue Parsons said.
Russell Parsons said the most recent wins had seen the whole team sport big cheesy grins.
“Whether people try our cheese in a café or restaurant or buy some from our retail partners, they know it’s not just a standard cheese,” he said.
“We try for lots of different flavours and it’s all made by hand the old fashion way.
“It’s always a great feeling to take out awards.
“We’re very proud of our cheeses and we are getting good results to justify that pride.
“We’re elated.”
The family-owned cheese factory started as a hobby.
“We were sitting on the porch one day with a cheeseboard and wine and I asked Russell how cheese was made,” Sue Parsons said.
“He didn’t know and a couple of weeks later he pulled out a cheese making kit.
“The three of us started doing it as a hobby, making cheese on the weekends, and then we started taking it along to parties, and eventually we decided to open our own factory.
“We found at that time that if you wanted to see a cheese factory you had to go to the Hunter Valley, so Russell and I gave up our jobs at Coles and started looking for venues.
“It was time for a cheese change, but it took another year before we were ready to open.”
Russell Parsons said the family had always hoped the business would be successful.
“We certainly wanted to work for ourselves and it’s turned out well,” he said.
“Every day is a learning experience and every day is another success.”
Little Creek Cheese is open to the public seven days a week and is located in the heritage-listed Wyong Milk Factory.