World Championship Cheese Contest Kicks Off in Madison, Wisconsin

MEDIA NOTE: Visit WCMA’s media resource center to download high-resolution logo files; images from the previous World Championship Cheese Contest; and a comprehensive media kit with Contest facts, story ideas, and more. 

The 2024 World Championship Cheese Contest® is officially underway! Now through Thursday, March 7, more than 3,300 cheese, yogurt, butter, and dry dairy products will be evaluated by a skilled team of internationally renowned judges. 

Preliminary rounds of judging are open for public observation from 10:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. today, Tuesday, March 5 and tomorrow, Wednesday, March 6 at Monona Terrace Community & Convention Center in Madison, Wisconsin. Attendance is free, and samples will be available. The event culminates with the exciting announcement of the 2024 World Champion Cheese live online at WorldChampionCheese.org on Thursday, March 7 at 2:00 p.m. (CT). 

“We’re honored to shine the spotlight on the craftsmanship, skill, and passion of the world’s dairy manufacturers. This one-of-a-kind event offers a wealth of opportunities to reach new customers, 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 biennially by Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association (WCMA) since 1957, this competition is the largest technical dairy products evaluation in the world. In 2022, Gourmino Le Gruyère, made by Michael Spycher of Mountain Dairy Fritzenhaus in Bern, Switzerland, won the World Champion Cheese title with an impressive score of 98.423 points out of 100. This year, a total of 3,302 entries have been submitted across 142 classes by dairy manufacturers from 25 countries around the world. These products will be evaluated by a judging team comprised of 53 cheese graders, cheese buyers, dairy science professors, and researchers hailing from 11 countries.