Overview
A fan of crumbling fresh feta, dotting your pizza with stretchy mozzarella, or is your personal favourite slathering a cracker in a truffle brie? These days you're absolutely spoilt for choice with both artisan cheese shops and regular supermarkets around the country selling cheese ranges big enough to make your lactose-intolerant friends wince.
Now, to mark the end of NZ Cheese Month the country's top cheese stores have been crowned for 2021. It's the perfect excuse to have a little at-home celebration to elevate your cheese platter game.
Hosted by New Zealand Speciality Cheesemakers Association (NZSCA) for the second year in a row, judging criteria included the quality of a shop's cheese display, the shopping environment and (most importantly) the number of regular tastings.
Basically, the award criteria encompasses everything you could possibly need when it's only an hour until your guests arrive and you're frantically putting together a platter that ticks all the boxes.
While Auckland has the highest number of winners — including multiple features from local grocery chain Farro — the awards are nationwide so you can put together a map of stores to hit on your roadie down the country this summer.
THE TOP NZ CHEESE STORES FOR 2021:
Auckland
- Farro, Grey Lynn
- Farro, Lunn Ave (Mt Wellington)
- Farro, North Store
- Sabato, Mt Eden
- Whitestone Cheese Bar, Auckland City
Waikato
- Over the Moon Dairy, Putaruru
- Over the Moon Deli, Cambridge
Hawke's Bay
- Hohepa, Clive
- New World Hastings
Wairarapa
- C'est Cheese, Featherston
Wellington
- Moore Wilsons, Tory Street
Nelson
- The Junction Shop
Christchurch
- Barrys Bay Cheese, Akaroa
- Charing Cross Cheesery, Riverside Market
North Otago
- Whitestone Cheese, Oamaru
A full directory of New Zealand cheesemakers and farmers' markets can be found on the Cheese Lovers website.