GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – A total of 2,303 different cheeses, butters, and yogurts are being judged in the Lambeau Field Atrium this week.
That’s an increase of 22% from the last biennial U.S. Championship Cheese Contest in 2015, according to Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association Communications and Policy Manager Rebekah Sweeney.
Cheese makers from 33 different states have made the trek to Green Bay to enter their dairy products into this year’s 104 categories.
Event organizers invited a total of 50 judges to work the competition, which began Tuesday. Sweeney says the judges are people who are highly respected in the field of either dairy science, research, or cheese grading.
Stan Dietsche, one of four assistant chief judges, has been associated with the event for three decades and has held a leadership position since 2005.
Dietsche says judges must consider a variety of factors when grading a cheese including: packaging, presentation, body, texture, and flavor.
In each category, medals are awarded for the top three finishers.
Roger Krohn, the head cheese maker at Agripour of Luxembourg, Wisconsin, has been in the industry for 40 years. He’s a third generation cheese maker whose facility focuses on mozzarella and provolone cheeses.
On Tuesday, Agripour took home the gold and silver medals in the ‘part-skim mozzarella’ category and also notched top honor in the ‘mild provolone’ competition.
Krohn believes his experience and desire to continue winning awards has allowed he and Agripour to consistenly produce high-quality cheeses.
In addition to receiving a medal, winners are allowed to put the competition’s logo on their packaging, something Krohn jokingly said has made his marketing department’s job ‘a bit easier.’
While all of the individual category winners will have been determined by the end of Wednesday, the overall ‘best cheese’ winner will be announced at an event-culminating gala at the Hyatt Regency on Thursday night.
