United States Championship Cheese Contest Kicks Off in Green Bay

The 2023 United States Championship Cheese Contest® is officially underway! Now through Thursday, February 23, more than 2,200 cheese, yogurt, butter, and dry dairy products will be evaluated by a skilled team of nationally renowned judges. 

Preliminary rounds of judging are open to public observation from 9:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. today, Tuesday, February 21 and tomorrow, Wednesday, February 22 at Resch Expo. Attendance is free, and samples will be available. The event culminates with the exciting announcement of the 2023 U.S. Champion Cheese live online at USChampionCheese.org on Thursday, February 23 at 2:00 p.m. (CT). 

“We’re honored to provide this one-of-a-kind opportunity for dairy manufacturers to showcase their dedication and craftsmanship, achieve national recognition, and gain technical feedback from the industry’s top experts,” said John Umhoefer, Executive Director of the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association (WCMA), host of the biennial competition. 

Hosted by WCMA since 1981, this biennial contest is the nation’s premier technical dairy product competition. A Baby Swiss Wheel made by Guggisberg Cheese in Millersburg, Ohio was most recently named U.S. Champion Cheese at the 2019 U.S. Contest. This year, a total of 2,249 entries have been submitted across 113 classes by cheesemakers from 35 states. These products will be evaluated by a judging team comprised of 42 cheese graders, cheese buyers, dairy science professors, and researchers hailing from 12 states.