The quality of milk from the Highlands was evident in various categories, contributing to two gold and two silver medals for Small Cow Farm, a silver medal for Pecora Dairy for their natural yoghurt and a silver medal for Highland Organics for the their non-homogenised full cream milk.

Small Cow Farm's win cements several years of medals at the show. This year its Fettice Fetta and Petitvache Camembert won gold - both products also won gold in 2013. The producer's Petitvache Brie (silver last year) and Redella (gold last year) won silver medals.

Lesley Williams from Small Cow Farm said she was pretty happy with the result.

"It is always hard picking product for this show as it has to be in first week after the Christmas break and we are not totally across the protein levels in the milk," she said.

Mrs Williams said she thinks the difference with their cheeses is the care they take during production.

"Whereas other cheese makers might knock off around 5pm, we go back and turn the cheeses again and ensure they are draining correctly and the temperature is right," she said. "Plus, our beautiful Highlands milk makes a big difference."

In the professional bakery results, 33 medals were brought home by Gumnut Patisserie, which also won Champion Pastry Exhibit for its traditional vanilla slice. There were four gold medals in the haul, two of them won by pastry chef Troy Hindmarsh for his lamington and his sausage roll.

"It's good to have some sort of external acknowledgement," Mr Hindmarsh said. "It helps people to see how good Gumnut is."

Mr Hindmarsh is no stranger to accolades, having won medals each year of his four-year apprenticeship, which he finished earlier this year. He plans to specialise in chocolate show pieces.

Each of the six Gumnut apprentices - Alexander Miller, Patrick Singer, Rosemary Firth, Samantha Trotter, Victoria Sanderson and Tia O'Connell - won a medal. Production manager Yasmine Soulsby said all Gumnut apprentices worked very hard and were required to view their training as a pathway to a career as a pastry chef.

"Because of our reputation, our apprentices have great opportunities and industry contacts to further their career. We want to produce people who are passionate about the industry, and we want to make food for people who appreciate quality products," she said.