Happy Valley Dairies, near Tuatapere, has been short listed for five awards for their yoghurt and butter in the 2008 Massey University Food Awards.
The small company has come head to head with dairy giant Fonterra for the "Cultured or Fermented Food Products Award", which makes dairy farmer Jeanine Venekamp very proud.
"That's the only one I want to win," Mrs Venekamp said.
"Even if we don't win, we can hold our heads up high."
Jeanine and her husband, Frans Venekamp, have been operating their small family business for 14 months, producing milk, cream, butter, yoghurt and cheese from their herd of 400 cows.
Mrs Venekamp said their products were made from un-homogenised milk, which made them "so much more healthier".
All of their products are sold in "smaller shops" around Southland, except for their milk as the majority of milk tankers were Fonterra operated, she said.
Mrs Venekamp said part of the farm's philosophy was to breed strong cows that were more resilient and required less medical treatment and, as a small scale operation, their customers would know the exact origin of their products.
She said the awards would help to put Happy Valley Dairies on the map.
Invercargill business Indofusion Limited has also been short listed, and is up for two awards for their Exotic Tamarind Chatni.
Indofusion Limited owner Vijai Lal first started selling his "Indian influenced, Pacific inspired" chatni less than two years ago at the Southern Farmers Market.
Indofusion Limited produce three chatnis ("chutney" is the anglicised form of the Hindi word chatni) which are based on Mr Lal's traditional family recipes.
Mr Lal said he used the Southern Farmers Market to educate the public on how to use his products.
His products kept selling out, prompting him to venture out of Southland, he said.
"Because if they like it, it's more than likely it will go well elsewhere," Mr Lal said.
They now sell at boutique and gourmet outlets across New Zealand.
Mr Lal, who has a degree in food science and a postgraduate diploma in viticulture, said an award on a bottle helped people decide whether to buy the product or not.
He said when people were shopping for wine, most did not know what they want, so they base their decision on the bottles with awards on the label.
Invercargill born, Mr Lal's father is Fijian-Indian and his mother has Swedish and Scottish roots.
"I'm Indian fusion and my kids are Indian fusion," Mr Lal said.
"Indian fusion stands for everything we're about."
