FDBusiness.com

More than 3,000 cheeses from 31 countries were judged at this year’s Word Cheese Awards – which were held exceptionally in San Sebastián, Spain rather than Birmingham in the UK. Swiss dairy group Emmi presented to the jury 13 cheeses from Switzerland and a selection of cheese specialities from the US. These were given a total of 18 awards.

The cheeses from Käserei Studer in eastern Switzerland were particularly successful. Both Der Scharfe Maxx and Maxx 365 were awarded a gold medal. The cave-aged KALTBACH cheeses won four awards, while the US cheeses from Emmi Roth USA and Cypress Grove were given a total of nine.

Emmi is the largest cheese trader in Switzerland. The range includes cheese that the company produces itself at various production facilities as well as cheese that it purchases (annually over 30,000 tonnes). This cheese normally comes from commercial cheese dairies and is then matured, refined and packaged by Emmi.

Emmi markets its cheeses across the world. Participating in competitions – for example, in the annual World Cheese Awards – is one of the measures being taken to raise the profile of foreign trade and consumption of the company’s cheeses. Emmi’s US subsidiaries have also been competing against Europe for a number of years