March 8, 2026
WESTBY, Wis. — Westby Cooperative Creamery earned multiple top finishes at the 2026 World Championship Cheese Contest, highlighted by a second-place award for its French onion dip in the cultured dairy dips category.
Westby’s French onion dip scored 99.55 out of 100 points, finishing just behind the gold medal winner, which scored 99.6 points, out of 124 entries. The creamery also earned third place for its 2% small curd cottage cheese among 27 entries and seventh place for its 4% small curd cottage cheese out of 26 entries.
“To earn two top three finishes in the World Championship Cheese Contest is an incredible testament to our team’s dedication to producing finely crafted cultured dairy,” said Emily Bialkowski, sales and marketing manager at Westby Cooperative Creamery. “Every batch is run through rigorous testing not only for food safety, but for quality, ensuring our dairy foods are consistently world class when they reach grocery shelves.”
The World Championship Cheese Contest featured 3,375 entries from 25 countries and 34 U.S. states and territories across 148 classes. The overall contest winner was Beemster Royaal Grand Cru from the Netherlands, which scored 98.68 points.
U.S. cheesemakers earned the most gold medals overall, claiming 96 Best of Class finishes, while Wisconsin dairy processors led the nation with 45 first-place awards.
Hosted by the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association, the World Championship Cheese Contest has been held every other year since 1957 and took place this year at Madison’s Monona Terrace Convention Center.
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