This year, with great pride and excitement, we can announce that our cheeses have once again confirmed their world-class status at the world’s most prestigious food and drink awards – the Great Taste Awards 2026.
What exactly is Great Taste and why is this award so special?
Often described as the "Gastro Oscars", Great Taste is the world's largest, most rigorous, and most respected blind-tasted food and drink awards, organized by the UK's Guild of Fine Food. What makes Great Taste truly special is that judges evaluate purely based on taste—without any influence from branding, packaging, or marketing stories.
Every product passes through the hands and palates of over 500 experts: food critics, top chefs, food buyers, food writers, and sommeliers. The black and gold starred sticker is recognized worldwide as a reliable seal of excellence and premium quality that consumers trust implicitly.
Competition rigor in numbers
To illustrate just how difficult it is to win any award at this competition, let's take a look at the official statistics from this year's judging:
- 15,038 products entered from around the world.
- Only 6,188 products (41.1%) managed to achieve an award at all:
- 1 star: achieved by 4,286 products (28.5%)
- 2 stars: achieved by 1,596 products (10.6%)
- 3 stars: achieved by just 306 products – an incredible 2.0%!
Being part of this elite group and winning awards across all categories—and especially securing two 3-star titles—is an incredible achievement for our cheese dairy.
Below is a detailed overview of our champions this year along with testimonials from the judges who evaluated them.
⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3 STARS (Exquisite perfection – only 2.0% of the world's best!)
Our flagship cheese delighted the jury with its complex profile, tradition, and incredible texture.
"This cheese is very skillfully made. It is not sheepy, rather using sheep’s milk to create something that is complex and full of flavour. We found it meltingly delicious and very moreish - one to look out for and to have on your cheeseboard."
"This is a truly appealing-looking golden cheese truckle... The flavour develops from milky and lactic to beautiful caramel tones."
Our Velebjan excelled with its rich flavour and visual elegance, winning over the judges' hearts and palates.
"A beautiful cheese whose creamy texture releases an amazingly complex flavour profile that is deeply savoury. It is extremely versatile – it would be great for cooking as well as on a cheeseboard."
"A glistened golden truckle of hard cheese reveals an opulently rich flavour profile that persists on the palate with appealing tanginess and a delicate balance of salt. The finish is rounded, richly rewarding, and extremely moreish."
⭐️⭐️ 2 STARS (Outstanding – among the top 10.6%)
Likotin Maraska
The unique combination of hard sheep's cheese and local Maraska cherry pomace proved to be a complete success.
"This is a gorgeous hard cheese - it isn't particularly crumbly but it has a firm texture, still melting on the tongue. You can really taste the fruit - it is a very well-balanced sheep's milk cheese... sweet and salty, with a beautifully fruity finish... An extraordinarily interesting and utterly delicious cheese."
"The colour of the cheese wheel is intriguing with its rich, dark cherry colours... The acidity gently tickles the side of your tongue and makes you reach for more."
Smoked Kozlar
This smoked goat's cheese was praised for its perfect balance between a subtle smoke aroma and signature freshness.
"A beautifully made cheese... The gentle smoke aroma is as appealing as the appearance. A big, impressive cheese with an attractive rind."
"We enjoyed the aroma, a balance of smoke and goat... There's plenty of umami, brightness, and a good balance of sweetness and salinity."
Aged Kozlar
The aged version of our Kozlar brought a perfect combination of texture, richness, and maturity.
"A beautiful cheese that balances the lactic elements with complex, creamy, fudgy notes... Pleasantly pungent, this cheese crumbles well on cutting and is admirably creamy on the palate."
"A handsome cheese, with a lovely caramel sweetness... Great balance of lactic complexity, sweetness and salt. It would be such a versatile cheese - delicious as it is or as a potential ingredient in many dishes."
A harmonious blend of cow, sheep, and goat's milk created a symphony that judges couldn't stop tasting.
"The cow offers butter, the sheep intense milkiness whilst the goat milk contributes meadow sweetness... The judges kept going back for more samples. A great example of a mature cheese."
"A wonderful aroma, like a parmesan. The texture is firm and a little waxy... The overall flavour is balanced."
Žigljen in olive pomace
The distinctive rind enriched with olive pomace and robust flavours earned this cheese two fantastic stars.
"A cheese with a robust, deeply burnished skin... The flavour is satisfyingly dairy noted, with herbal hints and a peppery lingering aftertaste."
"This is a majestic looking cheese... It is savoury enough to hold all the flavours together - sweetness and lactic acidity and saltiness come together to create a very delicious cheese."
⭐️ 1 STAR
Kolan aged in grape pomace
Our Kolan in grape pomace drew attention with its unique and innovative approach to aging in grape must.
"This artisan looking cheese cuts to reveal a handsome, firm, fairly dry paste... Beautifully presented cheese with an even coating of grape must."
"It has a complex and fruity aroma... The judges appreciate its flavour and the well-balanced fruitiness on the palate."
Continuity of Top Quality: A Lasting Tradition
This triumph is no accident. Last year, in 2025, we brought home an impressive array of awards from the same competition—including three 3-star champions (Kozlar in Olive Pomace, Smoked Kozlar, and Velebjan), alongside highly rated Paški sir, Kolan, Likotin, and Liburjan.
Proud of everything we have achieved, we are already looking forward to next year and new challenges.
PDO
