🇨🇭 History of Swiss Cheese 🇨🇭
von MySwissWorld & Swiss Food Box Team
Cheese production in Switzerland has a long and storied history, with the earliest records of cheese production datingback to the Middle Ages. Switzerland is well known for its cheese, particularly Emmentaler, and in 2019 alone, 195,114tons of cheese were produced.
Cheeses have been produced in the Swiss Alps and in the Jura region since the Middle Ages, with Schabziger andGruyère being mentioned in documents as early as 1000 and 1115, respectively. During the Little Ice Age, cheese becamethe staple food of mountain farmers due to the decline of cereal cultivation at higher altitudes. In the 17th century, Sbrinzcheese was exported via the Gotthard and Grimsel routes and the Simplon route to Lugano, Milan, Varese andDomodossola. In Emmental, the right of inheritance of the Ultimogenitur led to an increase in cheese production.
In the 19th century, cheese dairies were established in the valley, often as cooperatives. The Bernese patrician, RudolfEmanuel Effinger, founded one of the first lowland cheese dairies in Kiesen, Bern in 1815. This led to a change inagriculture in the lowlands and foothills of the Alps, from arable farming to increased grass and livestock farming.
Agricultural tariffs caused exports to drop sharply in the 20th century. As a self-help organization, the Genossenschaftschweizerischer Käseexportfirmen (Cooperative of Swiss Cheese Exporting Companies) was founded and Swiss cheesebecame state-managed. After World War II, exports were subsidized, resulting in costs of several hundred million francsannually in the 1990s.
In 1988, the biotechnologically produced rennet substitute chymosin was approved for cheese production. The 21stcentury saw producers being forced to compete in the free world market, with ten Swiss cheeses receiving the AOC seal,an increase in organic cheese production, and numerous new varieties being created. Bilateral agreements betweenSwitzerland and the European Union have made it possible to trade cheese between the two countries duty-free since2007.
Today, Swiss cheese is still produced by not only large companies, but also by small and micro enterprises, with many alpine cheeses made by individuals on the alpine pastures, mostly according to traditional methods. Switzerland Cheese Marketing reported total cheese exports of 77,124 tons and cheese imports of 71,664 tons in 2020, with exports rising to nearly 82,500 tons and imports to 75,774 tons in 2021. The Swiss cheese market has been growing in recent years, with about one-third of imported cheese being consumed in Switzerland.