World Cheese Awards – Champion Cheeses & Winners

The culinary world has a new obsession! The world cheese awards 2025 wrapped up recently. An 18-month aged Swiss Gruyère took home the top prize. This prestigious event saw thousands of cheeses competing for the coveted “World Champion Cheese” title.

This year’s competition was in Bern, Switzerland. It is the biggest event globally for the cheese industry. More than 5,200 cheeses from 46 countries were submitted. A panel of over 200 experts from all around the world judged the cheeses. They tasted, smelled, and evaluated every single one. The objective was straightforward: to discover the best cheese in the world.

The 2025 World Champion Cheese

The final winner was a Swiss Alpine-style cheese: Gruyère AOP Vorderfultigen Spezial over 18 months. It was produced by Bergkäserei Vorderfultigen. The jurors called this extraordinary cheese “impeccable and unforgettable.” The Gruyère beat all the other candidates by just one point. This success is a great advertisement for the quality of Swiss cheesemaking.

This triumph means a lot in the world of specialty cheese. It is a great honor for the cheesemaker, Pius Hitz. His dairy is a small operation in western Switzerland. The competition is organized by the Guild of Fine Food. The award acts as a huge publicity agent on the global stage.

How the World Cheese Awards Work

The evaluation is meticulous and detailed. It comprises different phases:

• Initial Judging: The judges are divided into small teams. Each team assesses approximately 45 cheeses. They evaluate the product for flavor, texture, aroma, and appearance. In addition, they assign Bronze, Silver, or Gold medals.
• Super Gold Selection: The team members decide which one of their Gold medal winners is the best and nominate that cheese for the Super Gold medal.
• The Super Jury: The Super Gold winners are invited to the final round. A Super Jury of 14 most renowned experts from different parts of the world then taste these elite cheeses.
• The Final Showdown: The Super Jury uses a scale from 1 to 7 to assign points to each of the finalists. The one that accumulates the most points overall is awarded the title of the World Champion Cheese.

The whole system is blind. In other words, the judges are kept in the dark about the product and producer until the final decision is made. This ensures the cleanest and most unbiased outcome.

What cheesemakers from the USA did is phenomenal. They have won a countless number of awards throughout different sectors. Truly, the United States was very well represented with lots of fine entries. The emergence of the American specialty cheese scene is the real story behind these successes.

Murray’s Cheese’s Stockinghall was quite impressive. This New York cheddar managed to nab a spot among the prestigious top 14. Roth Cheese, a Wisconsin-based leader in the field of specialty cheese, has also been attributed with a few medals.

American Cheese Star Players at WCA 2025

• Stockinghall (Murray’s Cheese): One of the Top 14 Finalists.
• Roth Canela: Bronze medal. This is a Spanish-inspired American Original type of cheese.
• Roth Gorgonzola: Bronze medal.
• Roth Grand Cru® Reserve Block: Bronze medal.
• Roth Grand Cru® Surchoix Wheel: Bronze medal.
• Roth Pavino: Bronze medal.

The current success is a continuation of a well-established trend. Reny Picot USA, based in Michigan, was awarded a Gold for their Triple Crème Brie Saint Rocco last year. Especially, Wisconsin cheese makers are elevating to the status of global celebrities continuously.

The Global Top 5 Cheeses of 2025

For those looking for the absolute best, here are the top-scoring cheeses from the World Cheese Awards 2025:

• Gruyère AOP Vorderfultigen Spezial (Switzerland): The World Champion.
• Crémeux des Aldudes aux fleurs – Etxaldia (France): Second place.
• Appenzeller® Edel-Würzig (Switzerland): Third place.
• Gantrisch Bergkäse (Switzerland): Fourth place.
• Königs-Chäs Rezent (Switzerland): Fifth place.

The list is mainly composed of Alpine-style cheeses. This fact shows the trend in the worldwide cheese community at present. These are the kinds of cheeses that are characterized by their firm texture and deep, complex, savory, and nutty flavors.

The World Cheese Awards is still an event to be seen. It is a festival of art and quality in the food world. It also furnishes us with a fantastic shopping list for the returning visit to our local cheesemonger. Whether you are a culinophile or just a fan of a great snack, the winners list offers amazing cheeses to try. The next awards promise more exciting competition.