FireFy Farms, producer of handmade cheese from Mountain Maryland, proudly shares their newest cheese Merry Goat Round Spruce Reserve is a 2018 Good Foods Awards winner recently announced at the Good Food Awards ceremony held in San Francisco, California on January 19th, 2018. "We are beyond excited and proud," shares FireFly Farms' co-founder Pablo Solanet, "the Good Food Awards is a prestigious and highly selective competition, and we're proud to be among the winners for a second time."
The Good Food Awards were created to redefine ‘good food' as being tasty, authentic and responsible. The criteria for entry in the annual competition is specific and defined as ‘realistic and inclusive of food and drink producers who have demonstrated a commitment to be part of building a tasty, authentic and responsible food system, going far above and beyond the status quo for their industry, while not making them so strict that eligible participants are limited to a small handful of products.'
The Good Food Awards reviews and revises its category criteria each year under the supervision of its committee chairs to ensure that the criteria advance with the progression of each industry. The Awards are rooted in a belief that by being inclusive, our American food system will more closely embody the principles of tasty, authentic and responsible more quickly.
"In November 2017 we learned that Spruce Reserve was a Good Food Awards finalist. To be in this select group is an award in itself," shares FireFly Farms' Director of Sales Andrea Cedro.
FireFly Farms' cheese makers developed Spruce Reserve in late 2016 for launch in 2017 as a celebration of its 15th anniversary hand-making cheese in mountains of western Maryland. Production and sales of Spruce Reserve continue to increase monthly at a fantastic yet manageable rate as customers and consumers discover its wonderful taste and texture.
As one of the first goat's milk bark strapped styles developed in the USA, FireFly Farms has joined a handful of domestic cheese makers using this traditional European method of aging and flavoring their soft ripened products. Starting with FireFly Farms' original Merry Goat Round, the cheese makers wrap rounds in a natural spruce-wood strap and carefully aged until the cheese body is fully ripened, creamy, and spreadable. The top rind is cut and removed from the cheese, with the support of the spruce wood strap, the body of the cheese is spooned out and savored.
Hailed as one of the best places to visit in Mountain Maryland's Garrett County, the Creamery and Market feature FireFly Farm's award-winning cheeses as well as other specialty, hand-selected items from the region and around the world. All of FireFly Farms' cheeses are made on site using fresh milk purchased from local family farms. Visitors can view the specially constructed production and aging facilities and cheese making process through observation windows.
FireFly Farms cheese is available at many retail grocers, specialty gourmet shops and restaurants. For information on where to purchase please contact the farm directly or visit https://www.fireflyfarms.com
Source: FireFly Farms