A new cheese has been crowned the best in the world! Le Gruyère AOP surchoix, entered by Vorderfultigen and Gourmino, just took home the grand prize at the World Cheese Awards held in Newport, Wales. Over 4,000 cheeses from 42 countries entered the competition. Culture editor, Susan Axelrod, was one of the 250 judges responsible for culling the pack of worldly cheeses.

• Kroger and Albertsons Companies recently announced a $24.6 billion merger, which will enable the combined entities to establish a national footprint. 
• Following a 30-year legal battle, French dairy company Lactalis has won the right to use the name Camembert de Normandie—for now. Their Président brand of camembert is made in Normandy, but the cow’s milk used for the cheese is not necessarily from the region. Lactalis won a suspension of a 2021 ruling that banned use of the label for any camembert not made with Normandy milk.
• Sargento’s Balanced Breaks Cheese & Crackers has earned one of the highest honors in the Consumer Packaged Goods industry—the Nielsen BASES Breakthrough Innovation award.
• BelGioioso Cheese has received Kosher certification by OU, the world’s largest and most widely recognized Kosher Certification agency, at its Appleton and Denmark plants.
• A class-action lawsuit claims Albertsons’ Lucerne-brand Smoked Pasteurized Processed Gouda Cheese Product is mislabeled as “smoked” although the taste comes from smoke flavoring.
• Kraft is now getting into the plant-based cheese market with their newest product, Not Cheese.
• Does it really matter that American cheese isn’t “real” cheese, as long as it melts well? According to one food writer, there are some recipes that are simply better with the pasteurized-processed-cheese-food, and it’s time turophiles got on board. We at culture tend to agree that quesos are creamier and macs are cheesier with the addition of a little American cheese.
• Writing for Forbes, Rana Good interviews Clara Diez, “cheese activist, content creator, and founder of Formaje,” a bespoke cheese shop in Madrid, Spain. According to Good, “Diez doesn’t just enjoy cheese but endeavors to go beyond its consumption to preserve the manual process and great cultural value of cheesemaking by working closely with artisans.”

Shop Talk

• The owners of San Francisco’s beloved Bi-Rite Market will open a third location in the Russian Hill neighborhood, at the former home of Real Foods Co.
• Washington D.C. plant-based hospitality group, DC Vegan, will open a vegan cheez shop on the second floor of its Dupont Circle-area restaurant.
• Houston’s Montrose Cheese and Wine was named the best cheese shop in the city by the Houston Press.
• in a glowing review for the October issue of Atlanta Magazine, Christiane Lauterbach calls Raymond Hook’s 3-month-old Capella Cheese is “one of the most ambitious specialty shops I have seen anywhere.” Hook, who formerly managed Atlanta’s Star Provisions, “understands that it is not only where you buy your cheese that matters, but also how that cheese is managed throughout its life.” 
• After being forced to close in August due to structural issues with the building, Greene Grape Provisions in Brooklyn, NY is reopening and looking for hard-working and passionate cheesemongers. “Our cheese counter is a fast-paced and fun place to work, and our customers are also some of the nicest people around,” says Cheese Department Manager and friend-of-culture Emilia D’Albero.

Competition Deadlines

• Entries are open for the 2023 US Championship Cheese Contest.
• The American Cheese Society has announced key dates for its annual Judging and Competition, which will take place in Minneapolis in May 2023.

Josie Krogh

Josie Krogh is culture's Digital Strategy Lead. She earned her master's degree in Agricultural and Applied Economics from The University of Georgia. Josie developed a love of food while working at farmstands in the D.C. area as a young adult, and discovered her love of cheese while living and working on a dairy farm on Martha's Vineyard. She is passionate about the food supply chain, fresh stone fruit, and dogs. Josie currently lives in Catskill, NY.