Entries for the Best Fondue Contest enter the final stretch

The 3rd Brazilian Cheese World Cup, which will be held from April 11 to 14 at the B32 Theater on Avenida Faria Lima, will be the stage for the second Best Fondue Contest in Brazil. The grand champion will go on to represent Brazil at the Fondue World Cup in Switzerland in 2025, with their ticket paid for by the organization. But for those interested in taking part in the competition: registration closes on March 15. To take part, competitors must fill in the registration form.

The competition for the country's best fondue will be held on April 11, opening the event of the 3rd Brazilian Cheese World Cup. Candidates will be judged on the criteria established by the Swiss competition, focusing on the originality of the recipe. The Brazilian competition will welcome up to 12 candidates, including professionals and amateurs. 

It is important for candidates to pay attention to the rules of participation. All the fondues must contain 50% of Gruyère PDO, the cheese that will be offered by the competition to the candidates. The other half is the choice of each participant. 

Participants take creative risks

The Swiss Consul for Tourism in Brazil, Fabien Clerc, chairman of the second Best Fondue Contest in Brazil, explains that the competition is the time for Brazilian candidates to show their originality: “The difference is the quality of the products and, in this contest, creativity has no limits. In fact, the judges will come from different backgrounds, which brings more diversity to the analysis.”.  

And there's no shortage of creativity among the participants! In the last edition of the competition, the candidates took risks with the fondue ingredients, even using jambu cachaça and tucupi in the combinations. 

The second Best Fondue Contest in Brazil has as its general commissioner Gabriela La Porta, a cheese producer from Belmiro Braga, MG and Garde et Juré from the Guilde des Fromagers. The selected judges were invited for their professional expertise. 

Brazil's Best Fondue Contest takes place for the first time during the World Cheese Fair 

This will be the first time that the Best Fondue Contest in Brazil has been held during the World Cheese Championship. In the first edition, in 2023, the event took place at the residence of the Swiss Consul General in São Paulo. The big winner was Clara Gaehwiler, a resident of the city of Pirenópolis, in Goiás. Clara's fondue mixed 50% Gruyère PDO with Brazilian cheeses from Queijaria Alpina, also from Goiás. These were Alpino Raclette cheese, matured for 90 days, and Stephan cheese, matured for 12 months.

Competition highlights national cheese production 

The Best Fondue Contest in Brazil is also an excellent opportunity for producers to promote their work to cheese lovers. One of the judges for this edition of the competition, chef Paschoal Luliani, highlights the importance of this event for the national cheese production chain: “The competition is a way of introducing new and good cheeses to Brazilian culture. It's noteworthy that here in Brazil restaurants often fail not because of the recipe or technique, but because of the quality of the ingredients used.”