The 2020 World Championship Cheese Contest is now accepting entries of cheese, butter, yogurt and dry dairy ingredients now through Jan. 31 at WorldChampionCheese.org. Hosted by the Madison, Wis.-based Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association (WCMA), this biennial contest is the largest technical dairy products evaluation in the world. In 2018, it featured a record-setting 3,402 entries from 26 countries, with a hard sheep's milk cheese called Esquirrou — made in France at Mauleon Fromagerie and imported by Savencia Cheese USA — taking top honors.

“Cheese lovers seek out gold medal winners from the World Championship Cheese Contest because they know they’ll be tasting the very best dairy products that anyone, anywhere can offer,” said John Umhoefer, WCMA executive director. “We’re thrilled to give cheesemakers an opportunity to earn industry acclaim and new customers in a global marketplace.”

Dairy manufacturers, processors and marketers should note that the 2020 World Championship Cheese Contest will include 132 classes of dairy products, including new categories for dried milk and whey powders.

To offer competitors real-time access to product scores and scoresheets, the World Championship Cheese Contest offers MyEntries, a secure online entry system at WorldChampionCheese.org, WCMA said. The online entry fee per product is $70, while paper submissions per product cost $80.

Competitors must enter by Jan. 31, 2020, to have their products evaluated. Judging will occur March 3-5 at Monona Terrace Convention Center in Madison, WCMA said.

All questions may be directed to WCMA Events Manager Kirsten Strohmenger at kstrohmenger@wischeesemakers.org.