Swiss Gruyère AOP has been proclaimed the best cheese in the world. The award ceremony took place during the World Cheese Awards, one of the most prestigious competitions in the cheese industry, which this year was held in Switzerland for the first time, at the Neue Festhalle in Bern. The Swiss cheese beat out fierce competition, with a record-breaking 5,200 cheeses from 46 countries entered—a 9% increase over the last edition held in Portugal. 265 international judges were called upon to evaluate the competing cheeses: experts, producers, and industry professionals from around the world.
Gruyere Cheese, a Recognized World-Wide Excellence
Lorenz Hirt, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Switzerland Cheese Marketing, was present at the event. He expressed great pride in seeing not only Switzerland as the host country, but also a Swiss cheese on the top step of the podium. It's called Gruyère AOP Vorderfultigen Spezial and is produced by Bergkäserei Vorderfultigen: it's an exceptional cheese, aged for over 18 months. This result was greeted with great joy by everyone present at the awards ceremony.
The choice to award this product was no coincidence: it convinced the jury with its aromatic profile, consistency, and care in production. All of this reflects the Swiss tradition, which has always been a symbol of excellence in dairy products.
As Bruno Schiavuzzi, one of the World Cheese Awards judges, explains, judging cheeses is far from easy. Speaking to RSI, a Swiss radio station, Schiavuzzi explained that the entire jury is divided into groups of three, each with over fifty types of cheese to evaluate. "It's a demanding job," he explains. "In this competition, the cheeses aren't divided by category, so we end up with soft cheeses, hard cheeses, blue cheeses, aged cheeses, not to mention specialty cheeses like spiced or turmeric cheeses."
All competing cheeses are presented to the judges anonymously, without any distinction as to category or origin. The judging criteria include the appearance of the rind and paste, aroma, texture, and, of course, flavor, which accounts for the majority of the score. Each judging panel nominates the best cheese from their table, which receives the "Super Gold" award. The "Super Gold" cheeses are then tasted again in a second round by an international jury of 14 experts from Belgium, Singapore, the USA, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Norway, Canada, the United Kingdom, Spain, Switzerland, and Uruguay. Their task is to select the overall winner from the 14 selected at their respective tables.
The Final "Super Gold" Cheeses Ranking
- Gruyère AOP Vorderfultigen Spezial – over 18 months (Switzerland)
- Crémeux des Aldudes aux fleurs (France)
- Appenzeller Edel-Würzig – 9 months (Switzerland)
- Gantrisch Bergkäse (Switzerland)
- Königs-Chäs Rezent (Switzerland)
- Ossau-Iraty AOP pasteurized sheep milk cheese (France)
- Stockinghall (USA)
- Aged Rutland Red (UK)
- Hechizo (Spain)
- Montana Intenso (Holland)
- Sparkenhoe Red Leicester (UK)
- Pave Cobble (UK)
- Yozawa Yagi (Japan)
- Eniquem Maly princ – 4 months (Slovakia)
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