Lilyarra, an artisan cheesemaker based on South Australia’s Fleurieu Peninsula, claimed top honours at the 2025 Sydney Royal Cheese & Dairy Produce Show – including the prestigious Champion Cheese of the Show for its naturally rinded, aged semihard goat’s cheese, Lilyarra Aran.
It’s believed to be only the second goat’s cheese to win the Champion Cheese award at the Sydney Show in its 150 year history. Lilyarra owner, cheesemaker and affineur, GerardCallanan said it was a wonderful surprise.
“It was the first time we’d entered the Sydney Royal. Our cheeses do pretty well at award shows – we’re pretty consistent with golds on most of our cheeses. But to win Champion Cheese at the Sydney Royal – that was incredible,” he said.
Head judge Tiffany Beer said the complex flavours of the cheese and the craftsmanship shown in the cheesemaking were the winning factors.
“I’d been tasting the wheels, as I do all the time, and I knew it was good. But I was never thinking ‘Champion Cheese good’. It was so full and rich, and it came together well,” Gerard said.
Gerard’s cheesemaking journey started in Ireland, making raw milk cheeses with Corleggy Cheese in their Summer Cheese School. Cheesemaking experiences in Lancashire, the Netherlands and the Yarra Valley led Gerard to Victor Harbor, to create the Lilyarra range of artisan goat cheeses.
The Fleurieu Peninsula operation has been making award-winning cheeses since 2017. Milk for the Lilyarra cheeses comes from Anders Oksbjerg, who has been goat farming in South Australia since 1996 with his wife Alison.
“When I moved to South Australia, I started looking for a milk supplier with the same philosophy as us. There are standards that we look for in farm practices which are important to us,” Gerard said.
“Anders does an amazing job with his goats. I rely on his integrity and good practices, and we see this in the quality of milk that he delivers. He’s always on top of seasonal variance with feed and supplements to deliver a consistent quality of milk.
“Strong relationships and open communication are critical in artisan cheesemaking – they’re the foundation of quality and consistency.”
Gerard said the quality of goat cheeses being produced in Australia was now high across the board. “Meredith Dairy is another producer making outstanding cheeses. The management of goat herds and breeding has improved, and, over time, this has improved the flavour and quality of the milk,” he said.
Gerard said winning the Champion Cheese of the Show award resulted in significant media coverage and boosted Lilyarra cheese sales in South Australia and interstate, which was underpinning significant growth for the company.
“We’re just about to quadruple the size of the factory, as we need to put some new maturation rooms on, we need a new cool room, and we need some more production space as well – that’s happening over the next three months,” he said.
“We’ve just had a larger vat installed, which will allow us to produce two and a half times the cheese in the same amount of time. We’re also looking at bringing in some more staff to help with both sales and cheese production.
“It’s a good position to be in. We’ve always known we’ve had good products, and the consistency of quality is very important to us. But this award has kick-started our sales interstate, which is invaluable for me.”
Gerard said the food safety program at a goat cheese factory was similar to a cow milk facility.
“We are very careful with our cleaning and hygiene. But one of the great things about goat cheeses is that we can get quite vibrant acidity, and this acidity is high enough that it assists with the control of certain bacteria,” he said.
As Lilyarra also sometimes make cow cheeses to supplement their goat range, Gerard said the main consideration was keeping the two types of cheese separate.
“For example, there will be a two- or three-day process with the goat’s cheese, and then we finish up and everything’s thoroughly cleaned up, then the next day we start working with the cow’s milk,” he said.
“Often, people seek out goat’s milk cheese when they have issues with digestion and processing. For these people, knowing there’s been no contamination with cow’s milk is important. We make sure we can guarantee that.
“With our food safety program, cleaning everything down every day thoroughly, regardless of what we’re making, is standard practice.”
Lilyarra cheeses include Goat Curd, Goat Curd with Fresh Dill, White Goat, Black Goat, Goats Blue and the Aran, as well as seasonal cheeses such as their smoked semihard goats cheese.
Find out more about Lilyarra here: https://www.lilyarra.com.au/
