Specialty Food Magazine is the leading publication for retailers, manufacturers and foodservice professionals in the specialty food trade. It provides news, trends and business-building insights that help readers keep their businesses competitive.
Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/769179
W ho's making the world's most compelling new cheeses? A generation ago, nobody would have cited the Swiss, but they are surely a contender today. Finally freed from 85 years of bureaucratic control, Swiss cheesemakers are creating new products relentlessly, and in a variety of styles. A major governmental change has propelled cheesemakers in Switzerland to move beyond Gruyère and Appenzeller to create innovative, exciting varieties. BY JANET FLETCHER A New Age for Swiss Cheese Admirably, all this activity doesn't come at the expense of tradition. Raw-milk production and alpage rituals remain points of pride, making Switzerland the place to look for both the classic and the new. "The biggest misconception is that people think everything from Switzerland is made on a mountain," says Caroline Hostettler, whose Fort Meyers, Florida-based import company, Quality Cheese, has helped build the reputation of Swiss cheeses in the U.S. Many con- sumers still associate the country with large aged wheels like Gruyère and Emmentaler and have no clue that the Swiss make expert blue cheeses, triple-creams, and supple washed-rind cheeses as well. Unleashing Swiss Creativity Little wonder that many Americans have such a limited notion of Swiss dairy artistry. For decades, the Swiss wanted it that way. The Swiss Cheese Union, a cartel-like organization that managed pro- duction, promotion, and exports from 1914 until 1999, used subsi- dies and quotas to control what cheesemakers produced. Although its original mission was worthy—to protect the Swiss dairy industry during World War I and its aftermath—the system stifled innova- tion and drove the government into debt. When Switzerland signed international trade agreements that prohibited the export subsidies, the SCU collapsed. Alpage Gruyère 50 ❘ SPECIALTY FOOD MAGAZINE specialtyfood.com cheese focus