Owner Catherine Mead holds Cornish Kern, a cheese from Truro, which was crowned as the best in the world – beating off tough competition from Italy and Austria
Owner Catherine Mead holds Cornish Kern, a cheese from Truro, which was crowned as the best in the world – beating off tough competition from Italy and Austria Lynher Dairies Cheese

A cheese from Cornwall has been crowned as the best in the world – beating mature competition from Italy and Austria.

Cornish Kern, made by Lynher Dairies Cheese firm in Truro, became World Champion Cheese 2017 winning out against more than 3,000 cheeses from around the globe at the Taste of London food festival on Friday (17 November).

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The Cornish cheese is an alpine-style offering, which judges describe as having a "creamy semi-soft cheese, with a deep aroma and caramel notes".

The achievement is all the more notable because Lynher Dairies Cheese is a small firm that only developed this brand a few years ago. Its only other output is a leaf-wrapped Yarg.

The firm's Kern was awarded 75 points out of 80 by judges in the final, beating an Italian cheese, Blu Di Bufala made by Quattro Portoni Caseificio, which scored 69 points.

Third place was shared by an Austrian cheese Capellaro de Almenland Stollenkaese and South African brand Dalewood Huguenot, made by Dalewood Fromage, both on 67 points.

Over the course of the day 230 judges from 29 countries sampled 3,001 cheeses before coming up with the winner.

Entries came not only from traditional powerhouses such as France, the UK and Italy, but from more unlikely nations including Australia, Bosnia Herzegovina and Colombia.

Judge Cathy Strange, global executive coordinator at US grocer Whole Foods Market, was a fan of the Truro cheese.

She said: "It has a fabulous maturity and a complexity that does not stop captivating. This is a superior cheese and I would be happy to find it at any table."

Lynher Dairies Cheese dairy director Dane Hopkins added: "People often ask me what other cheese Kern is like, but Kern is Kern. It has a uniqueness, which was recognised by the judges."

Owner Catherine Mead said: "This amazing achievement belongs to the whole Lynher team. A few years ago, we put considerable talent and investment into creating a new cheese to make best use of our equipment and skill, and Kern was born."