Six prizes for Wales at World Cheese Awards

Wales has scooped six prizes at the World Cheese Awards 2025, with Caws Cenarth taking home the top Welsh honour for its Perl Las Deli blue cheese.

The semi-hard, pasteurised cow’s milk cheese impressed judges at the global competition held last week in Bern, Switzerland, earning the prestigious title of Best Welsh Cheese.

The celebrated cheese, made with vegetarian rennet, dry-salted, and matured for up to 12 weeks, stood out during a marathon judging session at Festhalle, BernExpo last week.

Its flavour profile, texture and craft were enough to dazzle some of the world’s leading cheese experts.

In total, Welsh cheesemakers secured three Gold, two Silver and one Bronze award, cementing Wales’ growing reputation as a force in artisan cheese.

This year’s World Cheese Awards, organised by the Guild of Fine Food, marked the 37th edition of what is widely regarded as the most important event in the international cheese calendar. Hosted by Switzerland Cheese Marketing, the competition attracted an extraordinary 5,244 entries from 46 countries.

Cheesmakers

A panel of 265 judges, including affineurs, graders, cheesemakers, retailers, journalists and broadcasters, evaluated each cheese through a rigorous blind-tasting process. Judging was based on appearance, aroma, body, texture, flavour and mouthfeel, with packaging and producer details removed to ensure total fairness.

The cheeses were entered through 20 global consolidation hubs to guarantee they reached Bern in perfect condition. Thanks to special licences secured by the Guild of Fine Food in partnership with Swiss authorities, even the smallest artisan producers were able to compete on equal footing with major international brands.

Judging

Judging unfolded across three rounds in a single day. In the morning, teams of two or three judges assessed all entries, awarding Bronze, Silver, Gold, or the coveted Super Gold status.

In the afternoon, a Super Jury composed of 14 leading cheese specialists from around the world evaluated the Super Gold winners to select the top 14 cheeses. The final stage saw those 14 contenders go head-to-head to determine the overall World Champion.

This year’s global winner was Gruyère AOP Vorderfultigen Spezial (over 18 months) from Bergkäserei Vorderfultigen—an aged hard cow’s milk cheese from Switzerland.

Milk production

This year also saw the launch of the Es La Leche Award, recognising excellence in milk production and the often-overlooked skill, science, and animal husbandry behind high-quality cheese. Translating literally to “It’s the milk,” the phrase is also used colloquially in Spanish to mean “It’s amazing.”

Although the overall crown went to Switzerland, Welsh producers made a strong showing—including Caws Cenarth, famed for their award-winning blue and soft cheeses.

John Farrand, managing director of the Guild of Fine Food, said the results demonstrate the integrity of the competition: “This cheese has won through our multi-layered and robust blind-tasting process, impressing Super Jury judges from 14 different nations.”