A Swiss Gruyere was crowned the 2025 World Cheese Champion on Thursday, seeing off competition from more than 5,000 rivals from 46 countries.

The 18-month-old Vorderfultigen Spezial produced by Bergkaserei Vorderfultigen won the title at the World Cheese Awards, held in the Swiss capital Bern.

The winning cheese came from a mountain dairy in the pre-Alps region of Gantrisch, just south of Bern.

Grand final judge Perry Wakeman said it was the kind of cheese "that would make people get excited about cheese".

"It's a big old cheese -- there's a lot going on. The texture is beautiful: it's flinty as you break it apart; the crystalline in there are so delicate," he said.

"It is massive. It makes an impact."

It was the first time that the contest, created by the British-based Guild of Fine

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