Who Won The World Cheese Awards 2025? Spoiler: It's Not Italy

The first thing that strikes the World Cheese Awards is the smell. The second, if you love cheese, is that overwhelming feeling of wanting to taste everything right away, a bit like when you cross the threshold of an amusement park. And it's understandable: the 37th edition of the award (which, even before being a competition, is a celebration of cheese in all its forms, textures and fragrances) brings together connoisseurs, experts, curious consumers and, above all, sees the participation of about 46 countries and more than 5,200 cheeses, a record number. The winner for the 2025 edition is Switzerland, a country where cheese is in effect part of folklore. For the first time, the World Cheese Awards were hosted in the Alpine country, almost a fifth of the cheeses competing were Swiss, and so was the podium. In fact, the winner was the Gruyère AOP Vorderfultigen Spezial, aged 18 months, produced by the Bergkäserei Vorderfultigen cheese factory.

The jury praised its crystalline texture and umami flavour. This is the sixth time in the history of the WCA that a Le Gruyère AOP has obtained the highest recognition. “It's an honour for all the time cheese spends with us, about 20 months,” commented the cheese maker and CEO of Bergkäserei Vorderfultigen, Pius Hitz, during the award ceremony. 

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In second place was ranked, by only one point, a French cheese decorated with flowers, the Crémeux des Aldudes aux Fleur, produced by Etxaldia. The third step of the podium, on the other hand, went to another Swiss cheese, Appenzeller Edel-Würzig aged 9 months and signed by Käserei Ifang. The competition, held in Bern, has thus marked a particularly fortunate edition for the host country. Despite the Swiss triumph, the top 14 reflects the global nature of the Awards, with cheeses arriving from Japan, Slovakia, the United States and the Netherlands, as well as three British labels. 

How To Choose The Winner

John Farrand, CEO of the Guild of Fine Food, the body that organises the event, explained: “And here it is: the host country once again wins the most coveted prize for cheese. Perhaps because our judges are immersed in the national territory, perhaps because the cheese had to travel less far. But the reality is that he won thanks to our articulated blind evaluation process, obtaining the highest score and impressing the Super Jury judges from 14 different countries.” Dozens of judges armed with yellow aprons began to walk through the rows of long numbered tables, preparing for the tasting. For hard cheeses, cut slices close to the nose; for soft cheeses, use a spatula, check the consistency and let them melt on the tongue. 

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The area dedicated to the jury was delimited, with security officers prepared to monitor the area, while journalists could access only accompanied and were allowed to observe and smell the cheeses, but not to taste or touch them. For the approximately 265 judges, it was a completely blind tasting: all packaging and identification marks had been removed. Their task was to examine, smell, touch and taste each cheese (a remarkable feat, considering the quantity) and then award gold, silver and bronze awards based on aroma, structure, texture, flavour and taste on the palate. Only the cheeses awarded as Super Gold finally entered the selection of the Super Jury, which decided the 14 finalists. The origin of the cheeses was revealed to the judges and the public only after the voting closed.

Read the original story on ELLE Italy.