3rd World Cheese Contest in Brazil: Brazilian cheese “Morro Azul” takes 1st place in International Cheese and Dairy Products Contest

Last Friday, April 12, the Brazilian Cheese World Cup elected Morro Azul cheese as the big winner of the Best Cheese and Dairy Products Contest, beating out both Brazilian and international competitors. Morro Azul cheese is produced in Pomerode dairy, in the city of Pomerode, in Santa Catarina. Wrapped in a wooden belt, it is a soft and creamy cheese. Buttery and milky notes predominate. It is a lactose-free product, with no added lactase enzyme (lactose is naturally eliminated during ripening).

Morro Azul is a cow's milk cheese with a moldy rind and soft paste and was developed by the brothers Juliano and Bruno Mendes, owners of Laticínios Pomerode. It was awarded in 2023 at the 35th World Cheese Awards in Norway as the Best Cheese in Latin America.

*Juliano and Bruno Mendes with Morro Azul cheese*

Photo: Disclosure

Competition handed out around 600 medals

The Brazilian Cheese World Cup also awarded 598 cheeses and dairy products with different medals. There were 99 Super Gold top prize medals, 149 Gold, 150 Silver and 200 Bronze.

1,900 products were evaluated by 300 judges who were organized around tables at the B32 Theatre, on Avenida Faria Lima, in São Paulo, where the 3rd edition of the Brazilian Cheese World Cup is taking place, starting on Thursday 11 and running until Sunday 14.

Each table had around 20 products that were carefully evaluated by two or more judges who computed their scores using tablets.

At the opening of the contest, Heloisa Collins, one of the commissioners of the competition, praised the professionalism of the contest: “The success of the contest depends on you (the judges). We've done everything possible to ensure that you do a good job.”

Luciana Matsugma, another commissioner of the competition, highlighted the impact of the event on the cheesemakers who sent in their products: “This responsibility that you (judges) have in judging is very important because you can change the course of many stories. When each of the producers gave us their cheeses, they asked us to take care of them as if they were our own children. Remembering that each score can change the story of many people”.

Palácio dos Bandeirantes received winners

The winners of the Best Cheese and Dairy Products competition were received at an awards cocktail at the Palácio dos Bandeirantes in the presence of São Paulo Governor Tarcisio de Freitas and São Paulo State Agriculture Secretary Guilherme Piai.

See below for the full list of winners:

Results

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The third edition of the Brazilian Cheese World Cup, which took place between April 11 and 14, presented new winners in the categories contested: