Valdresmeieriet wins agricultural award

‘Through generations of processing raw ingredients, the Wangensten family has built a solid business. Here, the cheese is made by hand from whole milk supplied year-round by selected farms in Valdres. We are deeply impressed by the company, and it is a worthy winner of this year’s Business Development Award in Innlandet,’ says Sverre H. Bjørnstad, EVP for Innovation Norway Innlandet.

The award was presented at the dairy itself on 23 October.

Valdresmeieriet was established in 2011 and has grown from a small farm dairy into a modern dairy that generates significant benefits for many farmers. We have supported this development through a range of competence-building services and financial instruments.

'Thank you so much for the 2025 Rural Development Award for Innlandet. It was a wonderful surprise and has given us great motivation to keep moving forward. We have worked hard for 13 years to build a good workplace and a strong brand. It is especially rewarding to succeed and to show that it is possible to build an industry rooted in the traditions of mountain communities,' says owner Jørn Wangensten.

He says that working with us has been important:

‘Our support has been crucial throughout their journey to where they are today. So, a huge thank you for the support and the award.’

The jury highlighted the processing of summer pasture milk and the added value the company has created from a long-standing Norwegian tradition. They also emphasised the craftsmanship, the uncompromising quality of Valdresmeieriet's diverse range of cheeses, and the positive impact this has on the local community. The jury also rated the company highly for its financial growth and innovation, as well as its ability to create lasting, stable jobs in the area.

‘Valdresmeieriet met every criterion for the Business Development Award in Agriculture,’ Regional Director Bjørnstad adds.

– Here, Wangensten has added value to the milk produced on the mountain farms, which is used across Valdresmeieriet's impressive range.

Through skilled craftsmanship, Valdresmeieriet has succeeded in creating world-class cheeses. Its range includes several award-winning cheeses. Most recently, at the 2025 Norwegian Cheese Awards, the company won five awards: two gold, one silver and two bronze. More than 300 cheeses from almost 80 producers across Norway took part. Bufar, made exclusively from mountain pasture milk, was named Cheese of the Year at Det Norske Måltid 2025 and won gold at the World Cheese Awards in both 2023 and 2024. The dairy has also previously won gold for its 18-month-aged Vellagra Bufar.

Valdres is Europe's largest remaining mountain dairy farming region, with around 190 mountain farms. Milk from the mountain farms of Valdres is so distinctive that it has even been the subject of a doctoral thesis. Jørn Wangensten explains that the milk's composition gives the cheese its particularly fine yellow colour and rich, rounded flavour. This comes from the strong pigments in the mountain plants that the cows graze on. These plants contain a wide range of compounds that make them particularly well suited to the short, harsh summer months in the Norwegian mountains.