THE 10 COUPS DE CŒUR 2026
A competition designed to inform the profession
The Coups de Cœur Competition is no ordinary awards ceremony. Its unique feature lies in the method: each product is assessed without the jury knowing its origin or manufacturer. This blind tasting protocol ensures a score based solely on the cheese’s intrinsic qualities—texture, aroma, balance and finish—without the reputation of a producer or the appeal of packaging coming into play.
For the 2026 edition, 175 cheeses were submitted for evaluation. The final selection, narrowed down to ten winning products, provides a true snapshot of the industry’s current best work. It also reflects, more broadly, the dynamics shaping the market: the French retail cheese market generated over €10 billion in turnover in 2024, with approximately 852,000 tonnes sold according to EPSIMAS, a sector where artisanal excellence and qualitative differentiation play an increasingly important role in the purchasing decisions of both professionals and consumers. The results of the competition will be available on the dedicated page of the trade fair.
A jury of 25 experts from across the globe
The credibility of the awards rests on the composition of the jury. For this edition, twenty-five professionals from Brazil, the United States, France, Belgium, Poland and other countries took part in the tastings. Cheese merchants, consultants, specialist journalists and representatives of professional organisations: each brings a perspective shaped by daily experience with cheese in different cultural and commercial contexts.
Journalists Vincent Ferniot and Emily Monaco round out this panel, alongside Arnaud Sperat-Czar (Profession Fromager), Sara Lacomba (Storia e Sapori), Oksana Chernova (Pro Cheese), Bartosz Wilczynski (Radio Kulinarne Wine Podcast), Ludivine Canard (Lineaires), Régis Leboucher-Bisson (Fromagerie Histoires et Fromages), Feriel Adidou (Fromagerie Fadidou), Léo Begin (Fromagerie La Fruitière), Michael Belissa (Fromagerie Belisson), Roxane Fourgous (Bières et Fromages) and Virginie Dubois Dhorne (Fromagerie La Finarde), not forgetting Fernando Medina Zenoff, representing the Fair itself.
The 2026 winners: ten cheeses, three countries, a diversity of styles
The ten 2026 Favourites come from France, Italy and Switzerland, three origins that precisely match the stated preferences of French professionals and consumers. This result echoes the data collected by the Show as part of its sectoral study: whilst the French remain very strongly attached to French cheeses, Italy and Switzerland stand out as the two most popular foreign choices. The 2026 selection also highlights a key point: regardless of their origin, the award-winning cheeses all share a demanding, often daring, maturing process, which is now a key differentiating factor in specialist outlets.
Goat’s cheese brick – Prolactine France - Cave Rousseau (France) – Stand L 006
Artisanally matured in Chambéry, this brick in an original format develops mild flavours with a slight sweet note on the finish. Its creamy texture reimagines a classic, offering a more rounded taste experience than one might expect from this category.
Le Crémeux – Fromagerie Moléson (Switzerland) – Stand F 004
The name says it all: enriched with cream and matured for several months, this cheese offers a supple texture and a generous finish. It breaks with the usual conventions of pressed cheeses by embracing an unadulterated indulgence and a distinct flavour.
Goat’s cheese brick – Prolactine France - Cave Rousseau (France) – Stand L 006
Artisanally matured in Chambéry, this brick in an original format develops mild flavours with a slight sweet note on the finish. Its creamy texture reimagines a classic, offering a more rounded taste experience than one might expect from this category.
Aged Gruyère AOP matured at Les Forts de la Tine – Huguenin Fromages (Switzerland) – Stand D 014
Matured for between 18 and 22 months, this raw-milk Gruyère AOP offers a firm texture and deeply complex aromas. A cheese with character that takes the AOP specifications to perfection, with a complexity that unfolds as you taste it. To better understand the regulatory framework governing these products, the specifications for AOP cheeses are available via the CNIEL, the French dairy industry association.
Brebis d’Or – Fromagerie Moléson (Switzerland) – Stand F 004
A soft cheese wrapped in a spruce strap, which imparts delicate woody notes to the sheep’s milk. It also offers the potential to be enjoyed warm, simply baked in the oven, making it a comforting and versatile product, suitable for all seasons.
Fleur – Fromages Bach (France) – Stand L 006
Handmade from raw milk, this small goat’s cheese relies as much on the delicacy of its size as on the subtlety of its flavours. A creation that perfectly illustrates the dynamism of French artisanal farm production, a sector that has been particularly robust in recent years.
1955 Pecorino – Busti Formaggi (Italy) – Stand L 061
Long maturing, rich in flavour, with notes of butter and dried fruit that linger on the palate: this Pecorino PDO embodies the power of the Italian cheese-making tradition. Mild on the palate at first, it gains in intensity as you continue to taste it, making it a cheese apart for lovers of fine discoveries.
Goat’s Blue – Société Laitière de Laqueuille (France) – Stand L 006
The Société Laitière de Laqueuille presents an unusual blue cheese, made from goat’s milk, which combines the mildness of goat’s milk with a blue-veined character in a surprising balance. Creamy and slightly intense, it offers an original alternative to traditional cow’s milk blue cheeses, particularly well suited to pairings with honey or dried fruit.
BluDivino – Caseificio Pier Luigi Rosso (Italy) – Stand P 001
Matured in Barbera d'Asti red wine, this Italian blue cheese occupies a unique flavour profile, halfway between a cheese with character and a dessert cheese. Its melt-in-the-mouth texture and deep aromas make every tasting an off-the-beaten-track experience.
L’Horloger – Fromages Spielhofer (Switzerland) – Stand L 032
Unapologetically inspired by watchmaking: this pressed cheese stands out as much for its appearance, modelled on a watch face, as for its subtle and balanced flavour profile. It can be cut minute by minute to the desired weight, an idea that is as charming as it is appealing on a cheese board.
What these cheeses say about the sector
Beyond their individual qualities, the ten winners together paint a coherent picture of European cheese today: rooted in its terroirs and expertise, yet open to new sensory expressions, new formats and new uses. Mastery of ripening remains the common thread running through all these products. It is this expertise—often time-consuming to acquire and difficult to industrialise—that constitutes the true differentiating factor in a market where, as the Fédération des Fromagers de France regularly points out, the advice and expertise of the cheese merchant remain the primary drivers in promoting quality products to consumers.
See you in Paris from 7 to 9 June 2026
These cheeses will be on display at the 19th edition of the Cheese and Dairy Products Show, from 7 to 9 June 2026 at Paris Expo Porte de Versailles. Three days dedicated to industry professionals, with 300 exhibitors from 15 countries and 8,500 trade visitors expected. Visitors will be able to sample these products at the award-winning producers’ stands and speak directly with the producers themselves.