Ferndale farm wins World Championship Cheese Contest, ranking in four categories

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A local Whatcom County farm has been recognized for its cheese, winning awards in the World Championship Cheese Contest this year.

Ferndale Farmstead is a seed-to-cheese farm, meaning it grows its own crops to feed cows that then produce milk for the farm to make a wide variety of cheeses. The family-owned farm was started by the Wavrin family after purchasing the farm from a family of lifetime farmers.

“Ferndale Farmstead opened in May of 2015 and we began making cheese right away, winning the WA state cheese festival 1st place people choice award only months after opening our doors. We make about 10 varieties under the Ferndale Farmstead project which focuses on Italian style cheesemaking and a regenerative farming philosophy,” Daniel Wavrin, co-founder and cheese artisan wrote in an email to The Bellingham Herald.

The local farm had four cheeses recognized in the World Championship Cheese Contest in the fresh mozzarella, smoked provolone, Latin American style melting cheeses and Latin American style hard cheeses categories.

“Our cheese takes anywhere from 1 day to 1 year to make. Depending on whether it’s fresh or aged, cheese can be treated like fresh fruit or fine wine in terms of perishability. We make all types from fresh to aged and everything in between,” Wavrin wrote.

Ferndale Farmstead won first place in the smoked provolone category, beating out cheeses from Wisconsin and South Dakota that placed second and third.

“Our smoked provolone is made with a custom blend of real wood which we use to cold smoke our award-winning provolone. The world champion batch was around 6 months old... our ingredients like culture and rennet come directly from Napoli from my mentor Raffaele. So it is the most traditional and we are proud to hold the gold medal title in WA state for the next 2 years. This win was truly unbelievable considering the competition. We are a tiny team of 10 cheesemakers, with 2nd place in this category being Agropur, an international cooperation with 7500 employees,” Wavrin wrote.

Ferndale Farmstead’s fior di latte fresh mozzarella did not place in the top three cheeses in the fresh mozzarella category, but was recognized.

“Our fior di latte is a special cheese. It is the original style of mozzarella made in Italy using fresh cows milk instead of Buffalo milk, like the classic mozzarella di bufula. We won 1st place in USA for our cherry size mozzarella balls in water brine. We were shocked but very proud to represent the most authentic and high quality flavors in Italian cheese, thanks to the milk coming from our dairy farm,” Wavrin wrote.

The Ferndale farm was also recognized for two cheeses that are made through Familia del Norte, a project run through the farm by Nidia Hernandez, Wavrin’s wife, with a team of Latin cheesemakers.

“She is excited to celebrate her background by crafting high quality versions of the industrial cheeses available currently to Mexican and other Latin Americans,” Wavrin wrote.

Familia del Norte won first place in the Latin American style hard cheese category for its panela cheese, scoring higher than farms in Illinois and Wisconsin that placed in second and third.

Familia del Norte was also recognized for its quesillo/oaxaca cheese in the Latin American style melting cheese category.

For those wishing to try the local, award-winning cheese, restaurants and stores that carry the cheese can be found online.

The farm also allows farm tours by appointment and features a farmstand to purchase cheeses from the farm directly. The farm’s website also has a variety of recipes that feature its homemade cheeses.

“Our farm hopes to provide customers with the ability to ‘know your farmer.’ We believe this level of connection and transparency is the only way to truly understand the food we eat and provide a sustainable future,” Wavrin wrote.

Ferndale Farmstead is at 2780 Aldergrove Rd. in Ferndale.