Winners of the Cheese World Cup

The Santa Fe cheese "Frutos del Campo" from San Carlos Sud won the silver medal at the prestigious World Cheese Awards 2025 held in Bern, Switzerland, standing out among more than 5,200 cheeses from 46 countries.

🧀 Achievement Details

• Award-winning product: a Sbrinz-type cheese, with a hard mass and intense flavor, aged for 12 months.
• Company: Frutos del Campo S.A., a dairy SME located in San Carlos Sud, Las Colonias department, Santa Fe.
• Competition: 5,244 cheeses from 46 countries participated, evaluated by an international jury of 267 experts.
• Argentine representation: only 12 companies from the country applied, and Frutos del Campo was the only one to obtain a medal.
• Organization: the contest was coordinated by the Guild of Fine Food, considered the "World Cheese Cup".

🌍 Importance of the award

• International visibility: positions the Argentine cheese industry on the world map.
• Regional pride: the commune of San Carlos Sud celebrates this achievement as a symbol of quality and tradition.
• Economic impact: it opens doors to new markets and exports for SMEs.

👉 In summary: Frutos del Campo brought the Santa Fe flavor to Switzerland and managed to make an Argentine cheese among the best in the world, consolidating the reputation of national dairy production.

The most awarded Argentine cheeses in international competitions stand out mainly in the World Cheese Awards, the most prestigious competition in the sector. In the 2025 edition held in Bern, Switzerland, Argentina won a total of 12 medals, including 2 gold, several silver and bronze.

🧀 Ranking of the most awarded Argentine cheeses (World Cheese Awards 2025)

Stand	Cheese	Producer	Medal	Characteristics
1	Reggianitto 18 months	Dairy Cowboy	🥇 Gold	Hard cheese, long maturation, Italian style adapted to Argentine tradition
2	Tuscan	Ventimiglia Cheese Factory	🥇 Gold	Hard dough cheese, intense flavor, made in Cordoba
3	Sbrinz argentino	Fruits of the Field (San Carlos Sud, Santa Fe)	🥈 Silver	Stationed 12 months, the only winner in Santa Fe
4	Artisanal Blue Cheese	Various producers	🥈 Silver	Recognized for its quality and distinctive flavor
5	Pategrás Cheese	Several Argentine SMEs	🥉 Bronze	Traditional on the Argentinian table, semi-hard style
6	Argentinian Gouda cheese	Regional producers	🥉 Bronze	Local adaptation of the Dutch classic
7	Sardinian cheese	Producers from Cordoba	🥉 Bronze	Strong, ideal for grating
8	Fontina Cheese	Patagonian producers	🥉 Bronze	Semi-hard, with sweet notes
9	Argentinian Brie Cheese	Dairy SMEs	🥉 Bronze	Soft cheese with moldy crust
10	Argentinian Camembert cheese	Boutique producers	🥉 Bronze	Similar to Brie, with a creamy texture

📊 Keys to Argentina's performance

• 12 medals in total in 2025: 2 gold, several silver and bronze.
• Santa Fe, Córdoba and Patagonia were the most prominent regions.
• Hard and seasoned cheeses (Reggianitto, Tuscan, Sbrinz) are the ones that receive the most international recognition.

👉 In conclusion: the most awarded Argentine cheeses are the Reggianitto from Lácteos Vaquero and the Toscano from Ventimiglia (gold), followed by the Sbrinz from Frutos del Campo (silver). This ranking shows how the national cheese tradition manages to compete on an equal footing with powers such as Switzerland, Italy and France.

 

📰 Special Report | Argentine Economy

Massive closure of companies in Argentina: a phenomenon that deepens

✅ Panorama general

Argentina is going through one of the most critical periods for its productive framework in more than a decade. Between 2024 and the first quarter of 2025, 97,110 companies closed and only 79,787 opened, which left a negative balance of 17,323 firms and a net loss of 17,949 registered jobs, according to official data from the Ministry of Labor.

The deterioration was not abrupt, but persistent: each quarter showed a decline in the number of active companies, with a trend that has not yet found a bottom.

📉 Quarterly evolution of company closures

Official data show a sustained drop:

Quarter	Net balance of enterprises	Situation
1° 2024	–5.553	Onset of deterioration
2° 2024	–4.627	Falling consumption and cost pressure
3° 2024	–2.804	Slowdown, but still in the red
4° 2024	–2.042	Mild moderation
1° 2025	–2.297	Persistence of the closure of signatures

In total: more than 17,000 fewer companies in 15 months.

🏭 Sectoral impact: industry on alert

The industrial sector is one of the hardest hit. In the last weeks of November 2025 alone, five manufacturing companies closed their plants, leaving more than 400 workers laid off in Buenos Aires, La Rioja and San Luis.

The most affected items:

• Metallurgy
• Appliances
• Textile
• Auto Parts

The combination of falling domestic consumption and increased imports deepened the crisis in medium and large factories.

🧊 Emblematic case: Whirlpool abandons local production

The American multinational Whirlpool announced the definitive closure of its washing machine plant in Pilar, leaving 220 employees unemployed and putting an end to its industrial activity in the country.

The company will continue to operate only as an importer and distributor, a structural change that reflects the loss of competitiveness of the Argentine manufacturing sector.

📌 Factors that explain the phenomenon

🔹 1. Fall in domestic consumption

The contraction of purchasing power reduced demand in almost all areas.

🔹 2. Opening of imports

The flexibility of foreign trade generated strong competition for local industry, especially in durable goods and textiles.

🔹 3. Rising operating costs

Rates, logistics, rents and tax burdens put pressure on profitability.

🔹 4. Macroeconomic instability

Exchange rate volatility and lack of predictability discourage investment and make planning difficult.

👥 Impact on employment

The net loss of nearly 18,000 registered jobs does not reflect the full impact, as many businesses that continue to operate also cut staff or adjusted production shifts.

🔮 Perspectives

Although some indicators show a moderation in job destruction towards the end of 2024, the trend of business closures continues in 2025. Recovery will depend on:

• Macroeconomic stability
• Production incentives
• Smart import protection policies
• Reactivation of domestic consumption

With no clear signs of reversal, Argentina's productive framework faces a historic challenge.