People’s Cheese 2026: Britain’s Best New Cheese
Supported by Chiswick Cheese Mkt
Best New Cheese 2026
THE PEOPLE’S CHEESE 2026, BRITAINS BEST NEW CHEESE IS BACK!
Sharpen your taste buds and steady your crackers, The People’s Cheese is back for 2026!
In 2026, we’re once again celebrating the bold, the brilliant, and the beautifully made new cheeses of Britain and Ireland, in partnership with our friends at Chiswick Cheese Market, proud supporters of The People’s Cheese 2026: Britain’s Best New Cheese.
Team Chiswick getting stuck in!
A LOOK BACK AT 2025
Last year’s competition was a delicious triumph. Hundreds of curd enthusiasts gathered at Chiswick Cheese Market for the first round of judging, where 20 exceptional new cheeses went rind-to-rind for the title. To everyone’s surprise (and delight), three of the four finalists were made with goat’s milk, with one lone cow’s milk contender holding its own.
The finalists, Yr Afr from Wacky Wedge, Redlap from Stone Tree Dairy, Ooh La La from Highland Fine Cheese, and Nanny Gwyn from The Cornish Cheese Co, all showcased the extraordinary creativity alive in today’s artisan scene. In the end, after hundreds of live-streamed votes and plenty of cheering from cheese lovers across the land, Redlap took the crown.
ENTER YOUR CHEESE
Entries for The People’s Cheese 2026: Britain’s Best New Cheese are now open until Friday 6 March 2026.
If you’ve launched a new artisan cheese in the UK or Ireland since January 2025, this is your moment. Throw your hat (and your cheese) in the ring!
Enter via The Real Cheese Project website.
BE A CHEESE JUDGE
Once again, we’re calling on the great British (and Irish) cheese-loving public to do what they do best — taste, deliberate, and decide.
There will be two rounds of public judging:
ROUND ONE: Chiswick Cheese Market – Date TBC
We’ll be back at Chiswick for another day of glorious grazing and good-natured debate. The last two events were packed, so come early, bring your palate, and help choose the 2026 finalists.
Simply turn up, sign in, taste, and vote. It’s democracy — with cheese.
FINAL: Live Online Broadcast – Date TBC
Public judging - 2024
As tradition dictates, the grand final will be streamed live, hosted by The Real Cheese Project and joined by a panel of our favourite cheese friends.
They’ll chat, champion, and pontificate — but remember, you hold the power. The final vote is 100% in the hands of the people.
To take part, simply reserve your tasting box from The Real Cheese Project and tune in on the night to help crown Britain’s Best New Cheese 2026.
STAY TUNED
Keep an eye on @therealcheeseproject and our People’s Cheese 2026 page for updates, announcements, and a few surprises along the way.
Because when it comes to cheese, we believe the people always know best.