Innovation in Dairy Manufacturing Award

The Innovation in Dairy Manufacturing Award is a Dairy Australia initiative that aims to foster a culture of excellence and innovation within the Australian dairy manufacturing sector.

This Award comprises a $20,000 Innovation Grant and an Award Certificate. The grant may be used to initiate or progress manufacturing research or to travel overseas to study a specific product or process that presents an opportunity for the Australian dairy manufacturing sector.

Jack Holman, Cheesemaker, Yarra Valley Dairy

The recipient of the Innovation in Dairy Manufacturing award 2010, Mr Jack Holman is the cheesemaker at Yarra Valley Dairy in Yering, Victoria.

Jack is embarking on an innovation project to introduce new cheeses and cheesemaking knowledge to Australia.

While a large range of lactic curd style cheeses are widely available in Europe, they are virtually unknown in Australia except for small scale farmhouse cheeses. This provides a unique opportunity for small cheese manufacturers who represent an innovative segment with good potential but lack the capacity to invest in modern and large production processes.

This project has the potential to introduce new production methods, ripening cultures and skill sets to small and medium size cheesemakers which could promote significant value adding to milk. Styles of cheese identified of interest are St Paulin, St Marcellin and Neufchatel. It is hoped that a long term objective of this project will be to increase the consumption of Australian manufactured lactic curd European cheeses.