Almost there: Entries for the cheese and dairy products competition enter the final stretch

The third edition of the Brazilian Cheese World Cup is just around the corner. Proof of this is that registration for the competitions that will take place between April 11 and 14 at the B32 Theater in São Paulo is almost over. One of the most eagerly awaited is the cheese and dairy products competition, for which 2,000 entries are expected. O regulations, registration form and all the details of the event can be found in our website.

Chaired by Frenchman Laurent Dubois, a cheesemonger in Paris and one of France's best artisans in the cheese category, the competition will have around 300 judges. All of them will undergo specially formatted online training by the Mons Formation school and face-to-face training by Frenchman Philippe Dumain on April 11, from Savencia's international cheese school, known for his expertise in sensory analysis.

Heloisa Collins and Luciana Matsuguma, the Brazilian commissioners of the competition, explain that on April 12 the two stages will take place throughout the day: the first, in the morning, in the large auditorium of the B32 Theater, a 600 m² space with a wide view of the outside, where the super gold, gold, silver and bronze medals will be awarded. The cheeses will be judged anonymously on their exterior and interior appearance, texture, aromas and flavors.

The second stage will take place in the afternoon, at the same venue, but open to the public, in which a select group of 15 supreme judges from various countries will re-evaluate the “super gold” cheeses and choose the best cheese of the competition.

A special feature of this competition is that all the products must have some kind of registration in their locality. The cheeses will be received at the B32 Theater on April 9, 10 and 11.

As an agreement has been reached with the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAPA), products from other countries will be able to enter Brazil, exclusively for the competition and without marketing rights, as long as they are certified in their origin. Collection points have been organized in the United States, France, Italy, Mexico and the United Kingdom. The São Paulo Department of Agriculture is also a partner in the event and is preparing a big surprise for the awards night: a huge table will be set up with the cheeses from the competition for a dinner in a format that is unprecedented in Brazil. 

Guilherme Piai, São Paulo's Secretary of Agriculture, one of the people responsible for arranging for the cheeses from the competition to be donated to the state's Solidarity Fund, is excited: “The organization of the World Cup estimates that there will be two tons of cheese. You can imagine that whoever sends a cheese to the competition chooses their best product. They all have some kind of certification, municipal, state or federal, they are safe and deserve the best destination after being evaluated.”. 

Special features

Using an evaluation method developed by the French school Mons Formation and automated by technicians from the Faep-Senar system in Paraná, a sensory profile sheet will be generated for each cheese evaluated in the competition. “We're going to send this form to each producer, so that they can learn the proper vocabulary to present their cheese and eventually correct manufacturing or ripening defects,” said Débora Pereira, president of the World Cheese Contest and general director of the SerTãoBras association, who lives in France. All the judging will be done on tablets and the sheets will be translated into English, Portuguese, French and Spanish to make it easier for the foreign judges.

For everyone's benefit, impartiality is one of the principles of the contest. Heloisa Collins stresses that only products that cannot be identified should be sent in. The World Cup has been organized since 2022, when the second edition of the event ended, because it is known that a medal is the recognition that helps open up markets and make a cheese or any other dairy product stand out in its environment.

Luciana Matsuguma, meanwhile, stresses the importance of reading all the regulations carefully, especially so as not to get the category wrong and to send the right amount of product according to size and weight. “It's important to put the correct name because in the case of a medal, it goes on the certificate,” she adds. 

Winner of six medals at the last World Cheese Championship in Brazil, the producer of Queijaria Lita, Talita Feuser, says that she will once again be traveling with her whole family from Paranavaí, in the interior of Paraná, to São Paulo during the event. “I invite everyone to take part, because it's a very rich exchange between cheesemakers from all over Brazil. Tasting and getting to know different cheeses, seeing the judging up close is very exciting, it's beautiful. There are also courses and round tables. We're very excited,” she says. “It would have been a wonderful experience. And when we found out about the medals, we cried a lot right there in the middle of the theater. Afterwards it was also pure joy, because the awards opened doors, raised our self-esteem,” she says.

Check out how to apply in the video below: