Highlights from the 2025 World Cheese Awards
Inside the 2025 World Cheese Awards: Where the Best Cheeses Go Head-to-Head
The world’s top cheesemakers gathered in Switzerland this November for the 37th edition of the World Cheese Awards — a cheese-only competition and the ultimate benchmark of dairy excellence.
This year’s event, held on November 13, brought together 5,244 cheeses from 46 nations — shipped by boat, train, truck, and plane from 20 international collection hubs. In a single marathon day of judging, 265 experts—from affineurs and retailers to chefs, buyers, and food writers—tasted, sniffed, and studied each entry to decide which were worthy of Bronze, Silver, Gold, or Super Gold.
What Makes It Special
Unlike most competitions, cheeses here aren’t ranked against each other at first. Judges assess each on its own merit—looking at texture, color, aroma, mouthfeel, and taste—before selecting one standout per table as their Super Gold.
From there, an elite Super Jury of 14 internationally recognized cheese authorities takes over. Each picks a personal favorite from the Super Golds, and those 14 go head-to-head in the final round. The jury scores each finalist from 1 to 7, and the highest total claims the title of World Champion Cheese—live on World Cheese Awards TV, where fans around the globe tune in for the drama.
The 2025 Champion
Home advantage clearly paid off: Switzerland dominated this year’s podium, with four of the 14 finalists and two of the top three. The ultimate winner was the Gruyère AOP Vorderfultigen Spezial (aged over 18 months) from the Vorderfultigen mountain cheese dairy.
Made from raw cow’s milk and matured to perfection in the Swiss Alps, this hard cheese impressed the judges with its crystalline texture, nutty depth, and caramel-like finish—earning a near-perfect score of 85.
The Final Fourteen
Here’s the complete lineup of this year’s World Cheese Awards finalists — the best of the best, each handpicked by the Super Jury from more than 5,000 entries:
1. Switzerland – Hard cheese made from raw cow’s milk, AOP, crafted with animal rennet and matured for over 18 months. Score: 85
2. France – Soft cheese made from pasteurized cow’s milk, crafted with animal rennet, matured for 30 days, and rolled in edible flowers. Score: 84
3. Switzerland – Hard cheese made from raw cow’s milk with animal rennet, matured for 9 months and refined in a secret brine. Score: 83
4. Switzerland – Hard cheese made from raw cow’s milk, animal rennet, matured for 12 months. Score: 81
5. France – Hard cheese made from pasteurized sheep’s milk, PDO, with animal rennet. Score: 78
6. Switzerland – Semi-hard cheese made from raw cow’s milk, crafted with animal rennet. Score: 78
7. United States – Hard cheese made from pasteurized cow’s milk, made with vegetarian rennet, matured for 12 months. Score: 78
8. Spain – Soft cheese made from pasteurized goat’s milk, mold-ripened, crafted with animal rennet and matured for 30 days. Score: 76
9. Great Britain – Hard cheese made from pasteurized cow’s milk, made with vegetarian rennet. Score: 76
10. Netherlands – Hard cheese made from pasteurized cow’s milk, made with vegetarian rennet, matured for 10 months. Score: 76
11. United Kingdom – Hard cheese made from raw cow’s milk, animal rennet, aged for 8–10 months. Score: 75
12. United Kingdom – Soft cheese made from raw sheep’s milk, made with vegetarian rennet. Score: 74
13. Japan – Soft cheese made from pasteurized goat’s milk, yeast surface matured, made with animal rennet. Score: 73
14. Slovakia – Hard cheese made from pasteurized cow’s milk, made with vegetarian rennet, matured for 4 months. Score: 69
A Global Celebration of Cheese
From flower-coated French softies to Japan’s yeast-ripened goat cheese, the 2025 competition proved once again that great cheese knows no borders. The mix of traditional craftsmanship and modern creativity showed why the World Cheese Awards remain the most respected stage in the dairy world.
Up Next: Córdoba, Spain
The cheese world now turns its eyes to Córdoba, Andalusia (Spain), host of the 2026 World Cheese Awards. Expect Mediterranean sunshine, bold flavors, and another year of global competition to crown the next World Champion Cheese.
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