Pennland Pure Cheeses offer highquality products, locally and nationally

Don’t Forget the

Pennland Pure is Hancock’s award-winning local cheesemaker

Written by LINDA HARKCOM

In 2016 Lanco-Pennland Quality Milk Producers began producing cheese at the Co-op’s cheese plant, Pennland Pure, located near

Hancock, Md.

Since then, Pennland Pure Cheeses have developed a reputation as high-quality products both locally and nationally. Recently, the cheeses produced by the Lanco-Pennland

Co-op have won awards in two national contests where they competed against the elite cheesemakers from across the country.

“We wish to collaborate this accomplishment with our local community and dairy farmer owners,” Kurt

Williams, Lanco-Pennland’s general manager, states in a press release. “This achievement is a testament to our incredibly dedicated staff. The passion to produce excellence can be found in all our products, and every employee contributes to these achievements.”

Pennland Pure cheeses earned multiple awards at the American Cheese Society 2022 Judging & Competition. The cheese competition is designed to allow cheesemakers to showcase their talents and work as leaders within the industry. This year, the judging event was held May 19 and 20 at Huntington Bank Stadium, which is the University of Minnesota’s Football Stadium.

This was the 39th year for the competition, which was not held in 2020 or 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pennland Pure’s cheese are a popular item at local and national food stores.

Among Pennland Pure’s awards is one from the American Cheese Society 2022 Judging & Competition for their Sharpsburg Cheddar, their Provolone, and their Monterey Jack.

Pennland Pure placed in several categories the last time the competition was held in 2019.

Rachel Perez, Judging and Competition Committee Chairperson for the American Cheese Society Judging and Competition, said that this year there were 206 companies with 1,396 entries.

“We focus on an evaluation of each cheese and each cheese is judged on its own merit,” Perez says.

Cheeses are evaluated on appearance, aroma, texture and flavor, Perez explains.

“You look. You smell. You touch. You taste,” Perez says.

Cheeses get two scores. One for Technical score. This part of the completion is judged by someone with a dairy science background and provides feedback on how they make their cheese.

The Aesthetic score is determined by industry experts in the area of sales and marketing such as cheese mongers, cheese distributors, cheese writers and cheese importers.

“These judges focus on how your cheese will sell in the marketplace,” Perez says.

There are first, second and third place awards given for each category. Perez said if multiple cheeses have the same scores, there can be more than one first, second, or third place award given out.

Pennland Pure’s Sharpsburg Cheddar placed 2nd in the Aged Cheddar category, positioning them 2nd to Cabot Creamery and above Tillamook. Their Sharpsburg Cheddar was named after the historic town of Sharpsburg, Md.

Pennland Pure placed 2nd with their Provolone in the Pasta Filata Types, and in the Monterey Jack category placed 3rd with their own Pennland Pure Monterey Jack.

The awards were presented on July 21 at the American Cheese Society Annual Conference held in Portland, Oregon.

“Winning an award is kind of a benchmark for a quality product within that category in the American Marketplace,” Perez says. “A lot of buyers use our competition guide as a resource of what cheeses to choose.”

Pennland Pure’s Sharpsburg Cheddar also recently took third place honors in the Aged Cheddar category at the 2022 World Dairy Expo Championship Dairy Product Contest.

The World Dairy Expo (WDE) Championship Dairy Product Contest, sponsored by the Wisconsin Dairy Products Assn., received a record number 1,560 entries for cheese, butter, fluid milk, yogurt, cottage cheese, ice cream, sour cream, sherbet, cultured milk, sour cream dips, whipping cream, whey and creative/innovative products from dairy processors throughout North America.

“This year’s contest was a recordbreaker, reflecting how much dairy processors have come to embrace this unique and special event,” Brad Legreid, Executive Director of the Wisconsin Dairy Products Association, says in a press release. “Winning companies parlay their success into unprecedented marketing and retail sales opportunities, while other companies receive valuable insights from the fifty highly-trained sensory experts whom judge their products.”

Judging for the WDE Championship was held on Aug. 23 through 25 at Milwaukee Area Technical College’s Culinary Arts School in Madison, Wi. Awards will be presented on Oct. 4 at the World Dairy Expo, scheduled to be held at the Alliant Energy building’s Exhibition Hall in Madison, Wi.

Pennland Pure products are available at Mr. Hardware in Hancock, Md., Horst Meats, Hagerstown, and Battleview Market located in Sharpsburg, Md. Wholesale customers include Chipotle Mexican Grill, Dietz & Watson and Weiss Markets Deli.

Sherry Canfield, a cashier at Battleview Market in Sharpsburg, Md., says the cheeses are a popular item at their store.

“We have regular customers that wait weekly for it to come in just so they can get it,” Canfield says.

The store has carried the Pennland Pure cheeses for a little over a year, and Canfield says the cheeses sell out pretty much every time a shipment comes in. She says the most popular item is the Sharpsburg Cheddar.

“It’s just an excellent cheese. It’s got a great taste,” Canfield says.

The Pennland Pure cheeses include:

• • • • • • • Parmesan Romano Asiago Monterey Jack Cheddar Whole Milk Mozzarella Low Moisture Part Skim

Mozzarella • Provolone