Bern’s superjury voting up to 7 points each for world-class cheeses that reportedly ended up in the trash bin – some of which were said to have been pillaged.

The Tea Fondada from the Grisons tastes just as creamy and full-bodied as it did when it won the 2024 world dairy cheese championship as we slide into 2026’s fondue and raclette season. But it faces some stiff competition. Peter Hulm updates his article from that time as we await the 38th World Cheese Awards in Córdoba, Andalusia, Spain, from November 12 to 15, 2026.

The World Cheese Awards took place in Switzerland for the first time, in spring of last year, but “Gruyère AOP Vorderfultigen Spezial over 18 months” won top prize for the second time this decade and for the fifth time in all – and there was no mention of Chascharia Val Müstair’s Grand Cru Tea Fondada.

But Tea Fondada (meaning sunken Alpine hut, named for a local legend about the valley floor), is still rated “World’s Best Cows Milk Cheese” by tasteatlas.

Pius Hitz at work on his 2025 world prizewinning Gruyère, available online.

Testing the winners

You can test both for yourself.

Tea Fondada, cellared 6-9 months in Val Müstaire, is only supplied on order (no shop). The agricultura business charges CHF30 for a small half-round, and mailing costs an extra CHF10. 

The Gruyère Spezial, which comes in 250g and 500g packages from 35kg rounds, costing CHF35 per kilo. Positioned between Bern, Fribourg and Thun (75.8 km distant from the town of Gruyères – but we know all about that in Switzerland), the Berg-Kaeserei in Vorderfultigen has all its milk suppliers no more than a kilometre away.

Despite earning 85 points from judges, the Gruyère hard cheese ended only 1 point ahead of France’s soft cheese Etxaldia Crémeux des Aldudes aux fleurs from the Basque country.

One point further behind was the Appenzeller® Edel-Würzig 9 Monate hard cheese from Käserei Ifang/Tschumper in St Gallen. It was one of 82 to receive a Supergold award.

First entries from Afghanistan and Panama

Almost one-fifth of the 5,244 cheeses from 46 countries in the 37th competition – some 948 – came from Switzerland. Afghanistan and Panama took part for the first time. The awards involve 265 judges. A superjury of 14, each able to vote a maximum of 7 points, voted on the finalists.

After this first world championship to take place in Switzerland, the watson websitej jokingly declared: “Finally Bern can call itself an official capital.”

It also reported that all the entries were dumped in trash bans afterwards. The reason: only cheeses from the European Union and some other European countries can be imported into Switzerland. Special permission for the competitors included the proviso that all the specimens were afterwards destroyed, because all the cheese would be displayed next to each other and could transmit bacteria to the Swiss products.

In the 2025 competition, Switzerland provided 4 of the 14 finalists. The UK won two Supergolds, for Long Clawson Dairy’s Aged Rutland Red (9th, £6.80 for 200g) and Leicestershire Handmade Cheese Company’s Sparkenhoe Red Leicester (11th). The USA came 7th with Stockinghall cheddar ($33 /lb, $16.50 per ½ lb) from Murray's Cheese in Greenwich village (!).

... and Switzerland’s 2026 national championship

On 9 October three cheese producers picked up up the top national awards in Fribourg at the 14th Swiss Cheese Awards: Nicolas Brodard, of the La Guignarde alpine dairy in Corbières, canton Fribourg, won the hard-cheese championship with his Gruyère d’alpage AOP (2kg for CHF74.80), made only in summer from Alpine grazers, using physical labour rather than stones to press the cheese in the forms.

Say hard-cheese! Nicolas Brodard, whose La Guignarde from canton Fribourg, won the national hard-cheese prize with his Gruyère.

The semi-hard title went to Marc-André Girardin, of the Fromagerie de la Suze in Corgémont, in the Jura region of canton Bern, next to the Parc regional Chasseral, for his Tête de Moine AOP (CHF10.50-14.50 per 400g) , uniting 17 regional producers in a business that dates back more than 100 years.

The prizewinning Tomme Fleurette from Arnaud Guichard’s fromagerie...

...and gold+silver-medallist Arnaud Guichard having fun

Arnaud Guichard, of the Fromagerie Fleurette in Rougemont, canton Vaud, took the soft-cheese prize for his Tomme Fleurette (CHF6.85/170g + mail cost: free above CHF40 at vomchaeser.ch). Arnaud also won a silver medal in the 2025 World Cheese awards. I ordered a pack, and a connoisseur friend raved about the round I gave him as “everything you would want in a creamy tomme” – and I can back his assessment from my own eager tasting.

Peter Hulm has promised his doctor not to eat too much cheese. He hasn’t had any raclette or fondue so far this season.

Peter Hulm is a contributing editor to Global Geneva. He lives part of the year in the Valaisan village of Erschmatt overlooking the Rhone Valley and – almost – within distant sight of Muzot and Raron.