The most important event in the cheese industry’s calendar will take place from 12-13 November in Córdoba, Spain. The Guild of Fine Food will be holding the 38th annual World Cheese Awards, hosted by the Instituto del Queso as part of the Andalucía-Gusto del Sur International Cheese Festival 2026 in Córdoba Spain.

The awards, which are widely recognised as the biggest and most influential cheese-only competition in the world, will take place in the Exhibition, Trade Fair and Convention Centre (CEFC), in Córdoba on 12 and 13 of November.

There are over 5,000 cheeses from 45 countries already registered to be judged in the one-day event, which will involve two rounds of judging over the course of the day. The first round sees the 270 judges work in teams of two or three, identifying cheeses worthy of a Bronze, Silver, Gold, or Super Gold award. Then, in the afternoon the Super Gold cheeses are re-assessed by a Super Jury made up of 14 of the most distinguished cheese experts, to find the World Champion Cheese.

Each year, the judging panel is carefully selected from some of the most accomplished cheese professionals in the world to ensure that there is a balance of nationality, age, gender, discipline and areas of expertise.

They assess the look, feel, smell and taste of each entry, scoring aspects such as the appearance of the rind and paste, as well as the cheese’s aroma, body, and texture, with the majority of points awarded for flavour and mouthfeel.

To ensure a completely fair competition, the entire judging process is ‘blind’; all packaging, identifying logos and markings are removed, the judges are given a brief description, but no indication of origin or producer.

To ensure further parity, all the cheeses enter through one of over 20 consolidated shipping points spread across the world, to ensure they arrive at the judging arena in the best possible condition.