The World Championship Cheese Contest isn’t just about cheese from around the world.
There’s also plenty of yogurt to judge, as well as butter.
Jennifer Orchard, who, with her sister, founded Royal Guernsey Creamery in Columbus, Wisconsin, won two medals for her butter on March 3, the opening day of the event at Madison’s Monona Terrace.
Royal Guernsey Creamery won gold in the salted butter category and silver in flavored butter, validating the last five years of making butter. Plus, this was the first time they entered the World Championship Cheese Contest. The sisters won a silver last year at the U.S. Championship Cheese Contest.
“It’s very validating,” Orchard said of the wins. “We’re just a team of two, and being first-generation butter makers, you always wonder if you’re doing it right, if you’re making a good product.”
The World Championship Cheese Contest is a three-day technical competition for cheese, butter, cultured products and dry dairy ingredients. Judges sniff, feel and taste a variety of products to determine scores. The competition is hosted biennially by the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association and began in 1957.
This year, there were 3,375 entries in 150 categories, with 25 countries and 34 U.S. states represented. The Madison area had 34 cheese companies represented in the contest.
Like many makers at the event, Orchard and her sister have a history with milk, cheese and butter –- all the farming staples Wisconsin is known for.
Sister Julie Orchard Bacon and her husband Ed Bacon work as seventh-generation dairy farmers with Guernsey cows, which is where all of the milk for their butter originates.
Jennifer Orchard said the fact that they use Guernsey, known for their high-quality milk, and that it’s their farm, brings something special to the butter.
“The milk that our cows gave yesterday, I’m going to turn into butter tomorrow morning,” Orchard said during the March competition. “To our knowledge, we are the only people where we’re the dairy farmer and we’re the manufacturer of the butter.”
That farming heritage is a boon for cheesemakers across the state.
“We have the heritage and the history,” said Bethany Johnson, a technical sales manager for Saputo in Waupun. “We’ve been doing it for a long time. There’s a lot of really great historic plants represented here at the contest. If you look around this room at the judges and the volunteers, there are hundreds of years of cheesemaking experience. It really makes it special.
“And obviously the milk. The Wisconsin dairy is just exceptional.”
In addition to those schooled in farming history, there were a lot of scientific minds in the room for the competition.
Orchard worked in biotech for 15 years before getting back to the family farm. She’s worked with people from the Center for Dairy Research, the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection and dairy farmers across the state.
Saputo’s Johnson is a licensed cheesemaker and licensed cheese grater who has a background in biology. She interned at Foremost Farms and fell in love with the industry. Foremost helped her get a license in cheesemaking.
More cheddar
Like Orchard, Johnson said the global competition –- where cheesemakers and judges come from New Zealand, Spain, Japan and more –- not only validates the product but helps boost sales.
“It can be a great opportunity to showcase the products that are truly excellent and also to get your name out there,” Johnson said. “It’s especially a great opportunity if it’s a new product.”
The Madison area’s Emmi Roth won the world champion title, the top award, in 2016 thanks to its Roth Grand Cru Surchoix, which is available locally. Roth’s communications manager Kaya Freiman said such awards bring a lot of attention to the products.
“It is definitely something that can bring excitement to the stores if people hear of certain cheeses winning awards,” Freiman said. “It can … add to the excitement of trying a new cheese.”
The cheesemakers are just as excited to see their cheese place at the competition. Ryan Heiman of Marshfield’s Nasonville Dairy makes that point clear.
“I’m going to quote Rocky Balboa – ‘Adrian!’” he shouted. “That’s what that means. You’ve won gold in the world competition. I mean, you’re competing against people who make feta in Greece where it was founded.”
Heiman treats the competition like a family affair, attending with his wife and two boys. Over the years, they have won numerous awards. As far as the World Championship goes, Nasonville last won a bronze for a cow and goat milk feta. It won a silver in 2019 for its Cucumber Lemon Feta Crumbles and won a gold in feta back in 1989, with many awards in between.
Passing the sniff test
Even with that early win, Heiman said that such a technical event is perfect for pushing cheesemakers further, and for them to learn.
“You’re always striving to be better,” he said. “Where did I miss that fraction of a point? Because your score determines everything.”
Johnson added that a technical competition like this really allows the cheese to be front and center.
“Anything can win, whether it’s a plain 40-pound block or the fanciest looking wheel.”
And some of the best of the best in the cheese industry are there to learn from.
“This is an incredible place to learn, and this is how we can improve and make better products,” Orchard said. “When the judges are done with the class, if I can I like to chat with them just to see how I can improve, because it’s a technical competition.”
It’s fun for the judges as well.
Julie Winans, a judge from Utah with 19 years of dairy industry experience, was judging with an Italian judge. Judging happens in pairs.
She has run a small dairy contest in Idaho and is well versed in the dairy and judging world. While she was evaluating numerous cheeses from across the globe, she said Wisconsin is special.
“Wisconsin has a lot of wonderful cheese, and it’s obviously, you know, our dairy state. I’m a little prejudiced because I have lived in Wisconsin.
“We have a lot of beautiful cheese,” she said. “I was talking to somebody doing cheddar yesterday, and they had some great stuff from Ireland, Australia and the UK.”
The opportunity to try cheese from across the world is also special to those who make it.
“Those Parmesan-Reggianos coming from Italy,” Heiman said. “I mean, that wheel alone, holy cow. That’s amazing. To be able to taste that here. I’m tickled pink.”
The big cheese
While no Wisconsin cheesemakers made it to the top three in the World Championship Cheese Contest, numerous won subcategory awards.
The top honor went to CONO Kaasmakers for its Beemster Royaal Grand Cru from the Netherlands. From Switzerland, Lucas Meier, 5088 – Käserei Kirchberg won first runner up for its Appenzeller Purple Label, and fellow Swiss cheesemaker Hardegger Käse AG won second runner up for its Alter Fritz cheese.
As far as Wisconsin goes, makers like V&V Supremo Foods won six medals, including two best of class honors, which recognizes excellence in craftsmanship, flavor, texture and quality among thousands of cheeses evaluated by expert judges from around the globe.
“Our team takes tremendous pride in producing authentic cheeses that truly honor our Mexican heritage while meeting the highest standards of quality,” Gilberto Villaseñor, chief visionary officer of V&V Supremo, said in a statement. “Receiving recognition at the World Championship Cheese Contest is a meaningful validation of the dedication and expertise of everyone at V&V Supremo.”
Agropur Weyauwega won first in the cheddar 1 to 2 year aged category, and was third and fifth in the cheddar, 3-6 month category.
Kiel cheesemakers won first, third and fifth in cheddar aged two years or longer. In traditional waxed cheddar, Wisconsin swept nine of the first 10 spots, with Deer Creek winning the top spot and third.
And as far as gouda goes, pronounced “how-da,” Thorp’s Marieke Gouda placed in multiple spots but took first and second in flavored gouda with Marieke Gouda Honey Clover and Marieke Gouda Cumin, respectively. It also placed eight more cheeses in the category.
It also took home a second-place finish in the smoked gouda category.
In the open class cheese curd category, Wisconsin won 19 of the 23 spots, taking the top 17. The state also dominated the flavored cheese curds.
Of the 28 awards in the flavored curd category, Wisconsin took 25, and the first 20. A full list of results can be found at the cheese contest’s webpage (worldchampioncheese.org), along with previous years’ winners.
