World Cheese Awards return to UK

The world’s largest international cheese competition, the World Cheese Awards, will be held at the BBC Good Food Show in the autumn for the first time.

More than 300 judges, including leading cheese buyers, retail experts, chefs and food journalists, are expected at the event, which has been brought back to the UK after spending two years overseas.

The BBC Good Food Show takes place at the NEC in Birmingham (24-28 November 2010), a city hailed as a new centre of gastronomy and at the food heart of Britain.

Over 2,000 cheeses from the UK, Europe, the USA, South Africa and Australasia will be shipped to the NEC.

Staged in a dedicated hall alongside the BBC Good Food Show, the 2010 World Cheese Awards will take place on 24 November 2010.

The morning’s judging will identify Gold, Silver and Bronze winning cheeses. During the afternoon, the supreme jury (which has previously included Mark Hix and Antony Worrall Thompson), will taste each Gold award-winning cheese for a second and a third time to identify the national champions and the World Champion Cheese 2010.

After judging, the World Cheese Awards area will be open to visitors to the four-day show, where the Guild of Fine Food will also be running tutored tastings.