The big cheese: Gouda worth its weight in gold is hailed world's best
A Gouda worth its weight in gold has proved a deserving winner of the World Championship Cheese Contest after being sold at auction for $8,400 (£5,270).
The wheel of Vermeer, a low-fat orange cheese from Holland, was valued at $350 per pound by its buyer, an American dairy company named Hoogwegt US. The sale in Madison, Wisconsin, came after the cheese claimed a surprise victory in the competition last month, where it stopped the Swiss from claiming the prize for the fourth time in a row. The biennial world championship featured more than 2,500 cheeses from 24 countries.
Despite its pedigree, it was not the most expensive cheese at the auction : a set of three gold-medal cheeses by a US manufacturer fetched a total of $16,000.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies