Standard Market Cave Aged Chandoka By LaClare Farms Wins Runner Up Best Of Show At ACS

WESTMONT, Ill. – Standard Market Cave Aged Chandoka by LaClare Farms took home the 2nd Place Best of Show ribbon at the annual American Cheese Society (ACS) Judging  Competition last week in Providence, R.I. The clothbound mixed milk Cheddar cheese also won 1st Place in the American Originals, Original Recipe – Made from Mixed or Other Milks category. The American Cheese Society’s annual conference is North America’s largest cheese competition, this year featuring 1,779 entries from 267 producers.

Standard Market Cave Aged Chandoka is the result of a unique collaboration between cheese maker LaClare Farms of Pipe, Wis., and gourmet retailer Standard Market of Westmont, Ill. Cheesemaker Katie (Hedrich) Fuhrmann of LaClare Farms crafts the mixed milk (cow/goat) Cheddar in Wisconsin and ships it immediately to Standard Market in Illinois, where it is bandage wrapped in linen and allowed to ripen for a minimum of six months in a carefully regulated, humidity and temperature controlled cheese aging cave. The result is a bold, tangy, yet fruity Cheddar.

Standard Market has one of only a small handful of independent cheese Affinage (aging) programs in the U.S., although the model is popular in Europe. “We are truly honored to be recognized alongside some of the best American cheeses for this amazing partnership with LaClare Farms,” said Alyssa Stone, head of the cheese program at Standard Market. “Affinage has allowed us to transform American artisan cheeses by devoting extra time and attention to their development. We are ecstatic to allow you to taste the results.” Standard Market, which only began operations in 2011, has released 15 different cave aged cheeses from a variety of American cheesemakers in its short existence.

The 2nd place Best of Show this year for Standard Market Cave Aged Chandoka represents the highest achievement in the prestigious ACS competition to date for both LaClare Farms and Standard Market. LaClare Farms and Standard Market are also separately previous ACS category winners—LaClare Farms, 1st Place in Hard Goat Milk for Evalon in 2012; Standard Market 3rd Place in Pasta Filata for Cave Aged Batista in 2013 and Cave Aged Madeline in 2014.

###

About Standard Market

At Standard Market®, our focus is on making the best tasting foods and providing the highest quality products at our two chef-driven gourmet markets in Chicago's western suburbs. Standard Market offers a unique food shopping experience, featuring an award-winning cheese aging cave, scratch bakery, fresh-squeezed juice bar, whole animal butcher and seafood counters, complete in-house deli, wine bar  gastropub, local- and artisan-crafted products, and fast-casual restaurant showcasing the bounty and chef talent contained in each store. Learn more at standardmarket.com.

About LaClare Farms

LaClare Farms™ is a state-of-the-art cheesemaking facility featuring a retail store and café, as well as a milking parlor with viewing room where visitors may view daily milking of dairy goats. Owned by Larry and Clara Hedrich and their family, the farmstead dairy plant is home to Evalon™, the 2011 U.S. Champion Cheese and 2014 Best of Class Hard Goat Cheese and Top 16 in the World Championship Cheese Contest. Most recently, the farm earned a Good Food Award for Martone, a mixed-milk cheese crafted by Champion Cheesemaker Katie (Hedrich) Fuhrmann. Visit www.laclarefarms.com for more information.

Source: LaClare Farms