When Dairy Foods headed off to Green Bay, Wis., on a snowy Tuesday in early March, I couldn’t envision how much fun I’d have attending my first cheese contest which was held March 4-6 at the Resch Expo. adjacent to Lambeau Field. Not only was there tons of cheese to sample, but there were Expert Judging Demonstrations, the chance to observe expert cheese judges in action, and, of course, the announcement of the winners of the U.S. Championship Cheese Contest on Thursday, March 6.

Organized and hosted biennially by the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association (WCMA) since 1981, the U.S. Championship Cheese Contest is the largest technical cheese, butter, cultured product, and dry dairy ingredient competition in the nation. In 2025, the contest featured 2,414 entries from 31 states among the 117 classes of products.

For the first time in its history, the U.S. Championship Cheese Contest had a back-to-back champion in Arethusa Europa which took the top honor on March 6, 2025. The highly regarded aged gouda also snagged the top prize in 2023.

Made by the cheese team at Arethusa Farm Dairy in Bantam, Conn., the aged gouda earned a score of 98.89 out of 100 at the 2025 contest.

That score was just enough to prevail over runner-up St. Malachi Reserve (98.88), a gouda/Alpine hybrid from The Farm at Doe Run in Coatesville, Pa., with second runner-up, Cello Organic Copper Kettle Parmesan from Schuman Cheese’s Lake Country Dairy team in Turtle Lake, Wis., garnering a 98.81.

“The razor-thin margins that separated our contest finalists speak to the caliber of US cheesemakers’ talent,” said John Umhoefer, WMCA’s Executive Director. “Congratulations go to the team at Arethusa Farm Dairy, and praise is in order for all our competitors’ commitment to excellence in the art and science of cheesemaking.”

With an impressive 55 Best of Class finishes, cheesemakers from Wisconsin earned the highest number of gold medals. Second in that ranking is Vermont, earning 13 first-place medals. Idaho cheesemakers earned third place, taking home the gold in ten classes, according to the WCMA. (See sidebar for Top 20 entries and the dairies who crafted the winning varieties).

Education is a big part of the cheese contest. Attending their first cheese event, Dale and Diane Fidler, of Denmark, Wis., learned about the free event on TV. They were pleasantly surprised that there were so many samples, spreads and crackers to try and savor. They attested to the creaminess of the flavored Dill Havarti from Meister Cheese in Muscoda, Wis., and loved the Pine River Garden Vegetable Cold Pack Spread made by Pine River Dairy so much that they vowed it would be on their future purchase list.

Standing by the Pine River display was their Brand Ambassador Mary Lindemann who noted that the Manitowoc, Wis.-based dairy makes butter, curds and strings, chunked cheese and dozens of cheese spreads including a Horseradish Cheese Spread, an Aged Asiago Cheese Spread and a Garlic & Herb Cheese Spread. The dairy store also offers ice cream cones for 50 cents.

Robust sales interest, victories that result in enhanced marketing, a boost to staff morale and interest in the “craft” nature of a cheesemaking career are among the reasons cheese contests are held, WCMA states.

Perhaps most importantly, though, entries receive a third-party analysis from expert cheese judges. As Dairy Foods learned from Sarah Guttmann, licensed cheese grader at Masters Gallery Foods in Plymouth, Wis., the "cheese capital of the world," cheese is graded on a 100-point scale based on Appearance, Body/Texture and Flavor.

Gutmann also served as master of ceremonies during an Expert Judging Demonstration where fifth-generation cheesemaker Darrell Demeter of Arla Foods and Hollandtown Dairy, and Jim Jirschele, Master Cheesemaker in Feta at Masters Gallery Foods, explained the nuances of several different varieties of cheese.

To add to one’s cheese acumen, attendees received samples of each cheese and were encouraged to touch and smell it before tasting. They also asked lots of questions.

For example, in introducing class 13 Swiss style cheeses that have been aged 60 days or more (before Dec. 21, 2014), Demeter and Jirschele explained that this cheese characteristic is sweet, contains acetic acid and has a nutty to creamy finish profile. The body will be firm and pliable with uniform eye formation.

“The acidity drives moisture out of the cheese,” Jirschele states. ”And while Swiss cheese can be found in both block and wheel shapes, rindless blocks, especially for the foodservice industry, are more functional and provide easier handling and yield.”

Held twice a day, the demonstrations were part of the program for only the second time in WCMA’s contest history, getting its start at World’s in Madison, Wis., in 2024, explained Danica Nilsestuen, WCMA’s director of sustainability and grants.

At the end of the demonstration, as Guttmann greeted familiar faces with hugs, she explained, "Although this is a cheese competition, we all care about each other. It’s a very tight-knit group. And we at Masters purchase a lot of cheese from these people.”

Technically proficient judging is what Jill Allen, R&D Director of Product Excellence at Tillamook County Creamery Association, and Laura Laehn, Director of Grading and Cheese Quality at Masters Gallery Foods, literally bring to the table.

Allen has been a cheese judge since 2012, while Laehn is in her eighth year working as a judge. She noted that most cheese judges start off judging at State Fairs before moving up to U.S. and World championship cheese contests.

While both expressed how much they love judging cheese, the one drawback is “maintaining a poker face since sometimes the producers of the cheese are watching and observing the judging,” they said. “We take this job seriously because we’re looking for the top-quality cheese.” DF