Norco cheese wins "Best Dairy for Lunchboxes" award

Australian-owned dairy co-operative Norco is celebrating a win for best dairy for back-to-school lunchboxes in the Australian Healthy Food Guide Lunchbox Awards 2023.

The co-op’s Natural Elbo Style Cheese won “Best Dairy for Lunchboxes” as voted by a panel of dietitians at the Australian Healthy Food Guide.

The award is the second accolade for Norco Natural Elbo Style Cheese, which was voted ‘best dairy’ in the EatWell Yummies Award 2022, voted by more than 17,000 Australian Wellbeing consumers.

Australian Healthy Food Guide offers advice from dietitians and nutritionists to help consumers choose products at the supermarket. The inaugural Lunchbox Awards recognise foods that are suitable for school or work lunchboxes.

The Elbo style cheese made its way onto the list because of its high calcium content, acidophilus cultures for good gut health, reduced salt and low sugar content.

In 2022, cheese was Australia’s favourite dairy to consume, with 15 kg of cheese eaten per capita and 40% of Australia’s milk used to produce 408,000 tonnes of the snack. Cheddar-style cheese continues to remain an Aussie staple and accounted for 52% of the total produced cheese.

Available in a 500 g block or 250 g pack of 12 slices, Norco Natural Elbo Style Cheese is a legacy product that has been in the Australian market for over 35 years. The cheese has no animal rennet, making it suitable for vegetarians.

Norco General Manager of Commercial & Strategy Ben Menzies said it is an honour to be recognised as a nutritious choice for school and work lunchboxes.