MADISON, WI – After three days of intense competition, a rich, nutty, cow’s milk cheese has been named the 2026 World Champion Cheese. The cheese, Beemster Royaal Grand Cru, is made by CONO Kaasmakers in Westbeemster, Netherlands. With an impressive score of 98.68 out of 100, Beemster Royaal Grand Cru topped 3,375 entries in this year’s World Championship Cheese Contest® to win the coveted top prize.
First runner-up in the contest, with a score of 98.45, is Appenzeller® Purple Label, an aged Appenzeller made by Lucas Meier and Käserei Kirchberg in Appenzell, Switzerland. The second runner-up, coming in just four-hundredths of a point behind with a score of 98.41, is an Aged Washed Rind/Smear Ripened Hard Cheeses called Alter Fritz made by Hardegger Käse AG in Jonschwil, Switzerland.
“Congratulations go to the team at CONO Kaasmakers for reaching the pinnacle of their craft with a win at the World Championship Cheese Contest, an exceptionally hard feat in a year in which our top finishers were separated by only fractions of a point,” said John Umhoefer, Executive Director of the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association, the contest host organization. “The caliber of this year’s competition speaks to the dedication of dairy manufacturers the world over to excellence in their craft, and we applaud their work.”
A total of 25 countries and 34 U.S. states and territories were represented in the 2026 World Championship Cheese Contest, with entries submitted across 148 classes. Cheesemakers from the United States earned the most gold medals by country overall, claiming 96 Best of Class finishes. Wisconsin dairy processors led the way with 45 first-place awards, followed by New York with eight and Vermont with seven. Cheesemakers from California, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, and Washington. Manufacturers from the Netherlands and Switzerland each earned 12 gold medals, while cheesemakers from Australia and Spain took home five Best of Class awards apiece. Cheesemakers from Austria, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, France, Greece, Italy, Japan, Sweden also earned gold at the competition.
Hosted by WCMA since 1957, the World Championship Cheese Contest is the largest technical dairy products evaluation in the world. A team of 56 internationally renowned judges evaluated all entries over the three-day event, held March 3-5 in Madison, Wisconsin. For more information on the Contest and complete results for all classes, visit WorldChampionCheese.org.
