Tilba Dairy owners Nic and Erica Dibden said they were "delighted and humbled" to have won the Jim Forsyth Perpetual Trophy for their full cream unhomogenised milk, at the 2022 Sydney Royal Cheese and Dairy Produce Show.

Erica said the award helped acknowledge everyone involved in the process of making their produce and across the business overall.

"The award recognises what we're doing here as a team, from the soils of the farm, to milk collection, manufacturing, selling in the shop and distribution," she said.

Over the years Erica and Nic have followed a simple, value driven philosophy based around creating a sustainable dairy farm that would meet the present need without compromising the needs of the future.

"We've just kept it honest and simple, growing gradually and putting in a lot of hard work over many years with consistency being key," Erica said.

The couple began their journey into the dairy business after purchasing their farm at Tilba in 2000, which kickstarted their dreams of living off the land.

From there they brought in a herd of pure Jersey cows, choosing the breed for their "beautiful and delicious milk" which was also popular for its high butter fat and protein.

Six years later they began their cheesemaking journey, by buying a little cheese processing plant in Bodalla dubbed South Coast Cheese.

Around that time Erica had also applied for a cheesemaking scholarship that would see her travel across Australia and Europe, learning about the theoretical and practical components of being a cheesemaker.

"I was lucky to have gotten that scholarship and it really cemented my cheese journey because before that I was making it from home in my kitchen," she said.

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In 2012 the couple celebrated another milestone with the purchase of the old Tilba Cheese Factory, which gave them the chance to merge their Tilba farm with the factory as well.

"We put the plant in here, we put our first litre of milk into a bottle and in December 2012 we started selling it in Bermagui," she said.

Erica said one of her favourite memories from when they first started selling their milk in the area, was when she'd taken it to the local supermarket at Bermagui, her childhood town.

"I took it to the guys at the supermarket and asked if they could give our milk a go, because they'd already had our cheese products before from when we were up at Bodalla," she said.

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"They asked me how much it was and I said I was going to be selling it for $4.50 and they said 'people won't buy that Erica, it's too expensive, they won't pay that much for milk', but I just said 'I'd like to give it a go' and if it didn't sell I'd pick it up."

Erica said within a couple of hours they had called her back to ask for more because they'd already sold out.

"The popularity of our product has been a fairly consistent story for us and I'm not sure if its the Tilba soils, the salty air and the breed of cows as well but it is a very unique milk and people love it," she said.

Erica said after that their next milestones included equipment upgrades and expanding their range of products by making yogurt, cream and handmade cheeses as well.

Erica said the latest upgrade they'd achieved was the purchase of the store beside the factory in Tilba, formerly known as Thompson's Gallery.

"We've just gone through another major upgrade, after buying the building next door and moving our shop into it, we also brought in a big cheese packaging machine," she said.

Looking back at their achievements over the years and where they are now, Erica said she and Nic were grateful to the community for their support.

"I have nothing but humility and respect for the local community, without their support we wouldn't have gotten up and off the ground," she said.

Erica encouraged anyone who supported their business to look into sourcing as much of their goods from other local producers in the area as well.

"It's not just about just buying local milk, it's about buying local food in general," she said.

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