National award confirms Tilba is home to Australia's most delicious glass of milk

The dairy was awarded the Jim Forsyth Perpetual Trophy for Champion White Milk at the 2022 Sydney Royal Cheese and Dairy Produce Show - run by the Royal Agricultural Society of NSW.

Their full cream, unhomogenised milk won a gold medal in its category, and was then compared across five different categories with 40 other white milks from dairies across Australia. The four person judging panel determined Tilba's milk to be the best white milk at the show.

Grace Dibden is the daughter of Tilba Real Dairy owners Nic and Erica Dibden.

She said being named champion milk would lift the national profile of Tilba Real Dairy.

"This is the cream or the crop in terms of awards to win," she said.

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Nic and Erica Dibden have entered their dairy products into many competitions in the 10 years since they bought the ABC Cheese Factory and transformed it into Tilba Real Dairy. They previously were crowned Champion Cream at the 2018 Royal Cheese and Dairy Produce Show.

Being crowned champion milk was one of eight awards Tilba won at the 2022 show. They also won five bronze medals for their cheeses and skim milk, and silvers for their cream and club cheese.

Many factors contribute to the quality of milk produced, including the grass the cattle eat, the time of year they are milked, the weather, and the breed of cow. Ms Dibden said creating champion milk had been a long process, including incorporating judges' feedback from previous entries, and the award was deserved recognition for the team.

She said the key to delicious milk was butter-fat content. Jersey cows, such as the Tilba herd, have a higher butter-fat content compared to other cattle.

When Ms Dibden drinks a coffee made with Tilba Real Dairy milk, she can taste the difference.

"It is the flavour, and the golden colour," she said. "It just tastes better."

Tilba Real Dairy hope the national title will help them enter the Sydney market.