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Alpine cheese results at the USA Cheese World Championship | Rehmer Sennhus | World Championship Cheese Contest 2024 Wisconsin
Alpine cheese results from Rehmer Sennhus at the Cheese World Championship 2024 in the USA | Our SECOND participation with 2 mountain cheeses “mild and very spicy” – World Championship Cheese Contest Wisconsin | And where does the winner come from?
World Championship Cheese Contest 2024: In detail, there are participants from 25 countries around the world and 32 states in the USA, with a total of 3,302 cheese and dairy products (all always in whole form – whole cheese block, cheese wheel, etc.) competing in the contest.
First off – WORLD CHAMPION 2024 was the Swiss cheese “Hornbacher” – and it’s a matterThe dry matter refers to that portion of the cheese that remains after removal of the water contained. The more water is removed from the cheese, the lower its dry matter and vice versa. » More info of hundredths of points. We congratulate them very warmly!
After our last participation in 2018, we simply thought again “being there is everything” and sent 2 of our Rehmer mountain cheese wheels (4 months and 12 months) from our Rehmer Sennhus cheese cellar in Au to the World Championship in Wisconsin, USA.
Rehmer Sennhus Alpine Cheeses | our submitted cheeses, the uncertainty and the results
Our two mountain cheese wheels are Rehmer alpine cheese aged 4 months – mild, weighing 28 kg – and Rehmer alpine cheese aged 12 months – flavorful, weighing 24 kg. The difference in weight of the wheels comes from the fact that the cheeses are hand-selected. Therefore, there are larger and smaller cheeses.
These were very well packed by us and prepared for the long journey to the USA. Nevertheless, there were uncertainties for us again:
- Will the cheese wheel packaging survive the long journey intact? – a mountain cheese wheel weighs approximately 28 kg
- It will take about 1 month until the cheese wheels are evaluated – during this time, the wheels cannot be cared for by us – what impact will this have on the cheese qualityDetecting cheese defects and quality - on the cheese dough. Recognizing cheese defects requires some practice. » More info?
And above all; Will we achieve a score that we:
- 1.) can be happy about,
- 2.) can be proud of, and
- 3.) can also argue to our customers?
For your information: Each cheese is evaluated twice in Wisconsin, and the average value is the achieved score in the respective category.
World Championship Cheese Contest 2024 | The results and scoring of our second USA Cheese World Championship participation are as follows:
- Alpine cheese – mild, 4 months: 99.05 points out of 100
- Alpine cheese – very flavorful, 12 months: 97.5 points out of 100 (1 point deduction for cheese rindTo protect the cheese wheel, it is put into salt bath or turned into dry salt. The salt removes water from the cheese and it dries faster. So the rind is formed. » More info – visual defect see below)
We are very proud of this achievement and extend our warm congratulations to our cheesemakers Christof Schneider and Jodok Greußing.
CHEESE
Interesting detail: The spotty-aged appearance of the cheese rind incurs a deduction of 1 point (visual defect). What is well-received by our customers is not as favorable in this context.
Why participate as a valley dairy in such a large cheese world championship?
This question is quite simple to answer:
How or from where else would one know where they stand with their cheese quality in international cheese quality comparison? And the cheese evaluations take place far from homeRipened cheese likes it cool and moist. The best is a temperature of about 8-10 ° C at about 90% humidity. » More info on neutral ground with an evaluation team of 53 members from around the world – what more could one want?
We were aware that it is much more challenging to assert oneself in this environment than in numerous smaller regional or national cheese competitions. This is particularly due to the strong international competition in the cheese sector.
Naturally, each participant will only send their outstanding cheese products (so to speak, gold medal quality) to participate in the event in the USA. If one does not deliver top quality, it is more sensible to leave their cheese at home.
What does participation in the USA Cheese World Championship offer?
Above all, it offers us one thing: an unbiased cheese evaluation as feedback from renowned cheese experts from around the world. This way, we receive a perfect assessment of our submitted cheese wheels, including their strengths and weaknesses. Thanks to these detailed evaluations, we can actively search for areas of improvement and further optimize our cheese quality.
Furthermore, a successful participation in the cheese world championship has another advantage: one no longer has to constantly debate about the quality of their cheese – it is either good or not. The results speak for themselves.
How does participation in the Cheese World Championship work?
The challenge here is not as simple as in a local cheese award, such as the Kasermandl or the Käsekaiser within the EU. Firstly, everything is to be done exclusively in English. Subsequently, for each cheese intended to participate in the world championship, a food certificate (Health Certificate) must be issued.
Furthermore, it is necessary to register or request an official FDA (Food and Drug Administration) number in the USA with the authority. Without this FDA number, it is impossible to get the cheese products through customs in the USA.
Then, the necessary customs documents must be filled out in cooperation with delivery notes. Once all these steps are completed, the cheese products are sent for participation in the world championship via air freight forwarding to the USA, specifically to Wisconsin.
Who is the winner of the US World Championship Cheese Contest from Switzerland?
The winner of the overall top cheese, awarded at this year’s competition with 3,302 cheese entries, is the cheese “Hornbacher” from cheese maker Michael Spycher Bergkäserei Fritzenhaus in Switzerland, with a final score of 98.976 points. The winning cheese was selected from 20 finalists in the final round.
World’s Largest Cheese Spectacle at the World Championship Cheese Contest 2024 in Wisconsin
The competition, hosted by the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association, is the world’s largest cheese competition and saw 3,302 entries this year. The competition takes place every two years, focusing on the US Cheese Championship in Green Bay.
Photo gallery and video of the Cheese World Championship 2024 in the USA
