Fernglen Farm Labneh Named 2026 dish Hero Ingredient Champion

We’re still pinching ourselves a little. Our sheep milk Labneh has been named the 2026 dish Hero Ingredient Champion at the Outstanding Food Producer Awards.

For a small family farm in the Wairarapa, it’s a pretty special recognition.

Earlier this year, our Labneh was awarded a Gold Medal at the 2026 Outstanding Food Producer Awards, putting it amongst some of New Zealand’s best food and drink products. From there, it went on to be selected as the dish Hero Ingredient Champion – an award that recognises a product for its exceptional quality, versatility and ability to make dishes even better.

And we couldn’t be more proud.

A champion for the humble sheep

Our Labneh started with a pretty simple idea: take the beautiful richness of our sheep’s milk and turn it into something that people could enjoy in all sorts of ways.

Labneh is a traditional Middle Eastern strained yoghurt, known for its thick, creamy texture, gentle tang and subtle saltiness. We make ours using New Zealand sheep milk, which gives the Labneh its naturally rich and velvety character.

It’s one of those products that doesn’t need much done to it.

Spread it over warm sourdough. Dollop it onto roasted vegetables. Serve it alongside grilled meat. Add a spoonful to a salad or grain bowl. Use it in place of cream cheese. Or, perhaps our favourite way, simply drizzle it with good olive oil and enjoy it with a piece of crusty bread.

That versatility is exactly what the dish Hero Ingredient Champion award is all about.

“From the first taste, we knew this was a Champion winner”

The 2026 Outstanding Food Producer Awards brought together more than 430 products from producers across New Zealand, with judging led by renowned chef Peter Gordon alongside dish editor Sarah Tuck and food editor Claire Aldous.

When the judges tasted our Labneh, they had some lovely things to say.

Sarah Tuck and Claire Aldous described it as “rich and velvety”, with the classic tang and a perfect balance of salt, saying it was a product they could easily see becoming a staple in Kiwi fridges.

The official Outstanding Food Producer Awards tasting notes also highlighted its excellent texture, balance of flavours and wonderful creamy viscosity.

For us, that’s particularly rewarding because those are exactly the things we want our Labneh to be.

Creamy, tangy, rich and incredibly versatile – but still tasting like the sheep milk it came from.

From our farm to kitchens around New Zealand

Fernglen Farm is a family-owned sheep dairy in the Wairarapa, where we’ve been milking sheep and developing sheep milk products for the past several years.

Our sheep are primarily East Friesian and Lacaune, breeds known for their ability to produce rich, high-quality milk. That milk is the starting point for everything we make.

While sheep milk has been enjoyed around the world for thousands of years, it’s still relatively unusual to see it on New Zealand supermarket shelves. That’s something we’re working to change.

Our range has grown from fresh sheep milk into a collection of sheep milk cheeses and cultured products, including our Labneh, Feta, yoghurt and other cheeses.

The Labneh has become one of our favourites because it showcases just how good sheep milk can be in a product that feels familiar, but is still a little different.

And now, being named a Champion by dish is a pretty exciting endorsement of that journey.

A big win for a small family business

Awards are always nice, but what makes this one particularly meaningful is what it represents for us.

We’re not a large dairy company. We’re a family farm, and much of what we do has grown through plenty of experimentation, hard work and a willingness to try something a little different.

There have been plenty of batches along the way that haven’t gone exactly to plan!

So to have a product that started on our farm recognised as one of New Zealand’s outstanding food products is something we’re incredibly proud of.

It’s also a great recognition for sheep milk as an ingredient.

Sheep milk naturally has a rich composition that makes it incredibly well suited to products such as yoghurt and Labneh. When you start with good milk, you don’t need to overcomplicate things.

You just need to look after it.

So, what makes our Labneh so good?

We think it comes down to a few simple things.

Good milk.
It all starts with our sheep and the milk they produce.

A simple process.
We let the milk and culture do the work, carefully developing the flavour and texture before straining it to create that thick, creamy Labneh consistency.

Balance.
We want richness without being too heavy, tang without being too sharp, and enough salt to bring everything together.

Versatility.
Most importantly, it needs to work in the kitchen. Whether you’re spreading it on toast, serving it alongside dinner or using it as the creamy element in a recipe, Labneh should make good food even better.

Apparently, the judges agreed.

From the Wairarapa to the rest of New Zealand

Winning the dish Hero Ingredient Champion 2026 has given our Labneh another little boost as we continue our goal of making sheep milk products more widely available around New Zealand.

We’re incredibly grateful to the team behind the Outstanding Food Producer Awards, to the judges who tasted our Labneh, and to all of the customers who have supported us along the way.

Most of all, we’re proud to see a product made from the milk of our own sheep, on our own farm in the Wairarapa, recognised on a national stage.

We’ll definitely be making the most of our Champion stickers!

And if you’ve never tried sheep milk Labneh before, perhaps this is your sign.

Find a pot, grab some good bread, add a drizzle of olive oil and see what all the fuss is about.

Award-winning sheep milk Labneh from Fernglen Farm

Our 2026 dish Hero Ingredient Champion Labneh is available through selected retailers and foodservice customers around New Zealand.

Made in the Wairarapa with New Zealand sheep milk, it’s rich, creamy, tangy and wonderfully versatile.

From our sheep to your table.