Marburger Dairy in Evans City received gold medals for its 2% milk and gourmet buttermilk and a silver for its whole chocolate milk in an international competition. The dairy was competing for the first time since the pandemic began in 2020. Butler Eagle file photo

Evans City dairy staple Marburger Farm Dairy brought home gold once again at the 2022 Los Angeles International Dairy Competition.

Competing for the first time since the pandemic began in 2020, the farm received gold medals for its 2% milk and gourmet buttermilk, and a silver for its whole chocolate milk.

“There’s different categories, and we submit our samples and send them out to Los Angeles,” said Kelsey Rush-Walko, human resources manager at Marburger. “They’re judged by a panel of judges, and it’s determined on a ranking system who is gold, silver, and bronze.”

Criteria for judging varies depending on the product being submitted, she said.

“It depends on what you’re submitting, but definitely fat content, quality of flavor, creaminess and consistency,” Rush-Walko said. “You’re not going to be able to judge buttermilk the same as you’re going to be able to judge chocolate milk.”

Rush-Walko credits Marburger’s use of vat pasteurization with the successful texture of the farm’s buttermilk. The cultures and the way that the milk is processed determine the flavor, she said.

“Our gourmet buttermilk is our No. 1 selling product,” Rush-Walko said. “We won gold in 2017, and silver in 2018 and 2019, and gold in 2020. We’re back to gold this year.”