Young Cheesemonger of the Year 2025: Meet The Finalists

Six young cheesemongers one step closer to Switzerland

The Young Cheesemonger of the Year Finals, sponsored by Peter’s Yard will take place at the World Cheese Awards, in Bern, Switzerland on 13th November 2025. The award aims to promote cheese knowledge, recognise emerging talent and provide career development within the industry.

This year’s applications bought in some really strong entrants from all around the globe, reflecting the quality of young cheesemongers coming up through the ranks and promising a great future for the industry as a whole.

World Cheese Awards

Applicants had initially been asked to provide a short biography, along with recommendations for their perfect cheeseboard. The six entrants with the most impressive, yet considered, selections have been shortlisted to attend the finals, where they will compete against their peers across five rounds.

The winner of the award will be announced on the same day and will receive the coveted title of Young Cheesemonger 2025, a trophy, a set of BOSKA Professional Cheesemonger Tools, a feature in Fine Food Digest and Academy of Cheese Level Two certification course. They will also be invited to judge at the World Cheese Awards 2026.

Meet your 2025 Young Cheesemonger of the Year Finalists

Emma is a French cheesemonger whose passion for fromage began in the summer of 2023 at Crèmerie Delacour. What started as a short-term job quickly turned into a calling: she continued part-time while studying art history before deciding to pursue cheese full-time. She joined Fromagerie Chataigner for her work-study training, earned her French Cheesemonger CAP and CIFCA Paris diploma, and continues to thrive there today.

Emma loves the many sides of her work; from caring for cheeses and advising customers to running the shop and connecting with both regulars and newcomers. A career highlight was visiting Neal’s Yard Dairy in London, exploring both their shop and maturing caves. Her ultimate dream is to open her own cheese shop in Paris.

Harry has worked with La Fromagerie on and off for the past three years, initially as a waiter and warehouse assistant before moving into the cheese room at the flagship Marylebone store in March of this year. This role has deepened his knowledge of British and European cheeses and given him invaluable hands-on experience in cheesemongering. One of his favourite aspects of the job is tasting a freshly opened wheel of cheese – nothing quite compares to experiencing its aroma and texture at that perfect moment.

Before joining La Fromagerie, Harry worked at Yield, a wine bar in Highbury, where he created and served cheeseboards designed to pair with carefully selected wines.

Harry’s chosen cheeseboard, titled “The Comeback Kings,” celebrates cheeses that have faced hardship and been revived. Through it, he aims to highlight the resilience of traditional cheesemaking and the importance of PDOs and other legal protections in safeguarding ancient methods, breeds, and terroirs.

The question Harry is asked most often (unsurprisingly, given that he works in a walk-in cheese room) is, “Does it not get cold in here?”

Looking ahead, Harry aspires to one day run his own successful cheese business, where he can share his passion for traditional cheesemaking and champion the craft he has come to love.

Magdalena’s journey with cheese began in 2015 at HLW-MultiAugustinum in St. Margarethen, where she first completed her Cheese Sommelier Training and went on to qualify for the National Finals of the Certified Cheese Experts. Her passion for the craft only deepened from there.

From 2021 to 2023, Magdalena undertook an apprenticeship as a Dairy Technologist, further expanding her knowledge of milk and cheesemaking. During this time, she also pursued additional training as a Certified Cheese Sommelier, combining technical skill with sensory expertise.

In 2023, she achieved a major milestone, and her career highlight to date – completing her Cheese Master qualification with Distinction, a proud highlight of her career.

The following summer, Magdalena spent time working on a large cattle farm in Canada, an experience she loved for its hands-on connection to the source of great dairy. Since the end of 2024, she has been working in hospitality, contributing to pastry, kitchen work, cheesemaking, and cheese service. Currently, she produces cheese in a small dairy, and during the winter season, she joins a hotel team where she continues to make and serve cheese, an aspect of her work she greatly enjoys.

Magdalena’s favourite part of her job is the variety within dairy processing, from crafting cheese to exploring new techniques and flavours.

Looking ahead, her goal is clear: to one day run her own successful cheese dairy.

After graduating with her BS in Animal Science in 2018, Hanna decided to pursue her new found interest in dairy animals with a short stint at a farmstead goat cheese producer in upstate New York. Following those six months, she wanted to find a way to stay close to cheese and started working at a counter for Whole Foods Market in Seattle.

The next few years were full of cheese education and learning how to be an effective monger at a large grocery chain but she knew there was another level of skill that was out there to learn. In 2022, Hanna transitioned to a small cheese counter in Boulder and was shocked at how different the experience was moving from grocery to one-on-one customer sales. After a year of rapid growth and at the encouragement of her partner who is also employed in cheese, Hanna attended and competed in the Cheesemonger Invitational in New York. She was expecting to just enjoy a weekend of education and networking with people from all over the country but much to her surprise she ended up in a tie for first and walked away with the second place spot after a live sales-off on stage.

After five years in the industry it felt like she was being shown that this is the place for her to excel and strive to better her knowledge. Inspired by a trip to Wisconsin hosted by Cheese State University and the Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin, Hanna reached out to Andy Hatch at Uplands Cheese when he posted looking for seasonal cheesemaking help in 2024. It felt like a full circle moment to return to cheesemaking, where her career started, and was a great experience for becoming more intimately familiar with the aging process of one of America’s most beloved cheeses. Hanna finds herself back at Uplands for the fall season again and will return to Albuquerque at the end of the year. She is looking forward to joining her partner on the counter in Albuquerque, New Mexico, at his cheese shop, The Mouse Hole, and bringing the stories of cheese to people in the community once more.

Tori’s journey into the world of cheese began in 2021, when she joined Mellis Cheese in Edinburgh as a part-time cheesemonger during her final year of university. What started as a student job soon became a deep passion for artisan and farmhouse cheesemaking.

Over the years, Tori has hosted tastings, worked at local markets and festivals, and met inspiring cheesemakers from across the UK and beyond. After graduating, she took time to travel, visiting cheese shops wherever she went and seeking out new flavours at every opportunity, before returning to Edinburgh to rejoin Mellis full-time.

Now, four years on, Tori works closely with wholesale customers, helping delicatessens expand their ranges and chefs curate seasonal, cheese-led menus. Her enthusiasm for sharing great cheese continues to be at the heart of everything she does.

A standout moment in her career was the Mellis Annual Summer Fete, where she and the team welcomed over 200 guests for a day celebrating farmhouse cheese and artisan produce. The event brought together talented makers and producers, and for Tori, it was a joy to see customers discovering new flavours, supporting small businesses, and connecting directly with the people behind the products.

Tori’s favourite aspects of her work are promoting cheeses that are in season and helping customers craft the perfect cheeseboard, guiding them through samples to build a selection tailored to their tastes and occasion.

The question she hears most often? “What’s in season?”

Looking ahead, Tori hopes to educate young people about local artisan cheeses, inspiring a new generation to appreciate the craft, tradition, and creativity behind great cheesemaking.

Cián began his cheesemongering journey with Sheridan’s in Cork City in October 2020, before joining Neal’s Yard Dairy in October 2021, where he continues to share his passion for exceptional cheese.

A standout moment in his career so far was attending “Cheese” in Bra this past September – an experience he describes as “electric” and truly career-affirming.

Cián’s favourite part of the job is the community that builds around the counter: the regular customers and familiar faces he chats with each week at Neal’s Yard Dairy’s Borough shop are what make the work so rewarding.

When asked the most common question he hears, Cián says it’s a close contest between, “What’s your favourite cheese?” and requests for a “strong cheddar with the salt crystals in.”

Looking ahead, Cián’s goal is to win the Academy of Cheese’s Affineur of the Year – an achievement he narrowly missed last year but remains determined to secure.

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