From its farmer-owned cooperative roots in the Netherlands to cheese cases across the U.S., Beemster has built a brand grounded in Dutch Gouda tradition, careful craft, and a deep respect for the land and animals behind every wheel.
This year, the SFA member company has a huge win to celebrate: Beemster Royaal Grand Cru was named the 2026 World Champion Cheese, earning the top score among 3,375 entries and bringing new attention to the brand’s signature balance of heritage, quality, and innovation.
In a recent interview with SFA, the Beemster team shared how the brand stays true to its cheesemaking roots while meeting the expectations of today’s specialty food shopper, what makes Royaal Grand Cru so special, and what’s next for Beemster in 2026 and beyond.
Beemster has a long history in Dutch cheesemaking, but the brand continues to feel fresh and relevant to today’s specialty food shopper. How do you balance heritage and innovation when developing products and telling the Beemster story?
If you’re not innovating, you can’t stay relevant. We stay true to our heritage. For example, we stir our cheese curds by hand. This is something that could be automated, but curd development is key to the texture of our cheese and successful aging. By hand-stirring the curds, the cheesemaker can see the curds and feel the tension through the rake. While our operations have scaled to increase production, we stay connected to our origins. The mother of our brine bath can be traced to the founding of our cooperative in 1901.
One thing we’ll never do is cut corners in the name of volume. Animal welfare is central to our mission. We will never compromise the care and welfare of our animals to increase volume. Beemster cows are free-grazing, and grass is their primary diet. Any supplemental feed is certified non-GMO, and they are never given artificial growth hormones.
Consumers appreciate products that are traditional and authentic. They can trust us and our cheese. But they also expect us to evolve with changing times. Sustainability is a very important value to shoppers, and it’s also important to Beemster. We feel it is our responsibility to protect the environment for future generations. Our member farmers generate renewable green energy through wind and solar, foster biodiversity and pollinators on and around the farms, and support many more cross-functional initiatives.
Beemster Royaal Grand Cru was recently named the 2026 World Champion Cheese, scoring 98.68 out of 100 and rising to the top of 3,375 entries. What did that recognition mean for the team, your farmer-owned cooperative, and the broader Beemster brand?
This is such an exciting title to win. It is a massive reward for everyone throughout the cooperative. Our quality starts on the member farms and with the investment our farmers make in the land and in the cows’ health and welfare. The team at the dairy are experts in their craft, from maintaining the cultures and the brine bath to hand-stirring the curds and aging.
As we celebrate our 125th anniversary this year, it was especially meaningful to receive this grand prize. It is a tribute to the work that everyone does. As our master cheesemaker, Sjoerd Hiemstra, said, to achieve a title like Champion of the World Championship Cheese Contest from an international jury means that absolutely everything had to be right—which, in turn, means that everyone throughout the cooperative was doing their best.
What does this mean for the broader Beemster brand? We have a new high score to beat.
What makes Royaal Grand Cru such a special expression of Beemster’s craft, and what do you hope buyers, cheesemongers, and consumers notice when they taste it?
We developed our Royaal line of cheeses to celebrate a distinction we received from the Royal Court of the Netherlands. Beemster was given a royal warrant as Purveyor to the Royal Court of the Netherlands. This is an honor given only to Dutch companies that are at least 100 years old, are regionally important, and represent Dutch culture. To celebrate this distinction, we developed this line of cheeses. So it’s so good, it’s fit for a king—literally.
The recipe is different from the core Beemster Gouda line, but Royaal, aged four months, and Royaal Grand Cru, aged 12 months, are also PDO North Holland Gouda cheeses. Royaal Grand Cru has a firm bite with some nice salty crystallization. It has a great texture because it can be planed, shredded, or chunked for a variety of uses. The flavor is nutty, with a sweetness similar to toffee.
It is an endlessly versatile cheese, and that’s what consumers are going to notice. If they add it to their cheeseboards, it’s going to be a standout star. If they mix it into something they’re cooking, they’re going to discover how its complexity plays with the other ingredients and makes the dish delicious. Plus, they’ll be able to tell friends and family that they’re serving them the best cheese in the world.
Where are you seeing the biggest opportunities for specialty cheese right now?
We are so fortunate in the specialty category. Our buyers and shoppers are curious and want to know the stories behind our cheeses. Our consumers take their time when shopping and engage with store associates. Social media has created a drive to learn more about cheese, including its origins, adaptations, evolution, and nutritional benefits. There’s a lot of storytelling opportunity to excite people about the cheese case.
As a longtime SFA member, how has being part of the Specialty Food Association community supported Beemster’s growth and relationships in the U.S. market?
A great example is last summer’s Fancy Food Show. On the first day of the Show, our team was split between the Javits Center and the Cheesemonger Invitational. Attendees of CMI came to the Fancy Food Show the next day and sought us out. They wanted to see the cheeses we had been pairing and sampling.
SFA creates the space for us to step out from behind our computers or the deli case and sit and really talk. There’s the element of discovery, too. The Shows and newsletters give us visibility and create the opportunity to be found. The research SFA publishes is valuable for understanding the trends emerging in our industry and driving consumers. The webinars also bring in experts with lessons to help us with our business. SFA understands that budgets are lean, so making information accessible and useful truly supports our goals.
What’s next for Beemster in 2026 and 2027?
We are definitely excited to see Royaal Grand Cru grow. We have it available in whole wheel, quarter wheel, exact-weight, and random-weight cuts, so whatever a cheese program has space for—whether it’s retail or foodservice—we have a format to meet that need. That’s something we hope to get the word out about more.
There is so much growing interest in specialty cheese throughout the country, thanks in great part to CheeseTok and Instagram. Things like girl dinner, grazing tables, and charcuterie classes are generating buzz and interest in specialty cheese.
We’re also excited to announce that we’ve launched an app. The Beemster app has information for both consumers and mongers, but our goal with the app is to be a resource for mongers. If they have questions about Beemster or need merchandising support, they have a quick way to get in touch with our team. We look forward to finding new ways to engage with everyone.
Taste Royaal Grand Cru at the 2026 Summer Fancy Food Show by visiting Atalanta at Booth #2040.