Schuman Cheese Brands Shine at Competitions

Schuman Cheese, a leading Italian cheese company, continued to showcase its prowess as a cheesemaker with the addition of five new gold medals at cheese competitions in the United States and abroad.

Winning entries at the recent International Cheese Awards (ICA) and American Cheese Society (ACS) Judging & Competition spanned products from Schuman’s flagship Cello brand, along with newcomer Yellow Door Creamery and the cheesemaker’s widely acclaimed Gorgonzola.

“This was our first showing at the International Cheese Awards, so it was especially gratifying to see our new fontina join our Cello products in generating such positive attention,” said Christophe Megevand, head cheesemaker for Schuman Cheese. “The response to our cheeses there and at the American Cheese Society contest shows there is a great appetite for our approach to cheese making.”

At ICA, Cello Artisan Parmesan earned a gold medal in the Best USA Cheese/Any Variety category. This Parmesan’s deep, nutty, caramel character is the result of the 12-plus months of natural aging each wheel undergoes to reach maturity. 

Another Cello product, Whisps, took bronze in the ICA Cheese Snacks category. Cello Whisps are made from just one ingredient, Cello’s new Cheddar or Cello’s award-winning Parmesan, and baked into airy, crispy bites.

Also at ICA, Schuman’s Gorgonzola earned top billing in the Best USA Cheese/Blue category. Made with sea salt and fresh cows’ milk, this cheese is aged for 90 days to produce greenish marble veins and a soft, crumbly texture. The robust, piquant flavor is ideal for topping salads and burgers and as a base for rich cream sauces.

Rounding out the international awards, Yellow Door Creamery’s new Hand Rubbed Fontina (shown here) led the broad Any Cheese with Additives category in the Best USA Cheese division at ICA. The fontina then topped the Rubbed-Rind category in the Flavored Cheeses Division at ACS. The winning variety in these competitions, the Harissa, is a smoky blend of chili, cumin and caraway seed that creates and exotic combo with the fontina’s rich and nutty flavor. 

Also at ACS, Schuman Cheese earned first place recognition for its Cello Thick & Smooth Mascarpone in the Mascarpone and Cream Cheese category of the Fresh Unripened Cheeses division. 

“We take great pride in producing the highest-quality cheeses and seeing our work recognized by others in the industry, both here in the United States and internationally, is a true honor,” Megevand said.

This year’s International Cheese Awards at Nantwich received a record-breaking 5,000 entries from around the globe, reinforcing the show’s position as the biggest in the world. More than 200 expert judges tasted and tested the entries.

The annual American Cheese Society Judging & Competition celebrates the art of American cheese making with awards given to cheeses and dairy products that have achieved technical excellence and exhibit the highest aesthetic qualities in the areas of flavor, aroma, texture and appearance.