This Cream Cheese Brand Just Won Three Gold Medals

The difference between a good and a bad cream cheese can sometimes be hard to put your finger on – but when you get one that’s up there with the best, you definitely know it. That gorgeous smooth quality. That perfect balance of tanginess to creaminess. That full-bodied nature. God, it’s enough to make you want to make a beeline for your nearest bagel shop. 

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One of the best ways to know if a cream cheese is good, though? If it’s award-winning (“Duh!” I hear you cry – but hey, sometimes I just have to say these things). And one cream cheese brand has just swept the board at the 2026 International Cheese & Dairy Awards. 

It’s…

Tillamook! Tillamook County Creamery Association, to give it its full name, has just won three gold medals at the 2026 IDCAs. It marks the second year running that Tillamook has taken home the gold, when it won for Best USA Cheese and Cheese Spread. 

This year, Tillamook’s Seriously Strawberry Cream Cheese Spread won in the Soft Sweet Any Variety with Sweet Additives (non-UK) category, while its Chive & Onion Cream Cheese Spread won in the Soft, Semi-Soft, or Cream Cheese with Additives category (again for non-UK products). Its Cream Cheese Brick, meanwhile, won in the Best USA Cheese Soft, Semi-Soft, Any Variety category. 

And that’s not all. The dairy brand also won three silver and three bronze titles in the awards for its cream cheese and Colby Jack cheese. Given that the IDCAs received more than 4,500 entries for its 2026 edition, its wealth of awards is pretty impressive. 

A Commitment to Quality

Tillamook’s huge success at the 2026 IDCAs will likely be the highlight of a banner year for the brand, in which it reminded us all that it really, really cares about getting good dairy products to your table. Just a few weeks ago, it launched a crash course in identifying the difference between ice cream and frozen dairy dessert, reminding customers that yes, they are different, and no, Tillamook doesn’t concern itself with the latter. It also dropped a fresh round of new ice cream bars…and to be honest, we didn’t love them as much as we’d hoped, but to be fair, that wasn’t so much to do with the ice cream as it was with the thickness of their chocolate shells. 

That’s all for ice cream, though — and as far as its cream cheese goes, Tillamook stays winning.