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12 The Cheese Guide the Baby Swiss, developed by Alfred as a Swiss cheese that appealed to American palates. The strong, complex flavors of the Emmentaler-style Swiss were too much for Americans at the time, so a new style was created with a reduced aging time to produce a more subtle flavor. "Baby Swiss appeals to a wider audience," says Guggisberg. "It's a very mild cheese, but it still has unique flavors." As Guggisberg's mother used to say, Baby Swiss is "Loved by young and old alike." Even as American tastes have leaned toward more complex cheese flavors, the Baby Swiss has remained a top seller with a flavor that balances a traditional Swiss' complexity with creamy mildness. Guggisberg has caught on to the trend that has been working its way through cheese festivals and championships. "In the last several years, there's been a growing trend to more complex flavors," says Guggisberg. "The American palate is changing to the more traditional style cheeses." In demonstration of this, Guggisberg Cheese's Original Swiss has won 27 of Guggisburg's 46 awards since 1991. Those awards are hard earned, as Swiss is notoriously difficult to produce. Guggisberg notes that not only do texture and flavor have to be accounted for, but the ubiquitous holes, or "eyes," that Swiss is famous for need to be formed consistently. Guggisberg Cheese has been polishing its craft with local milks and a bevy of bacterial cultures, toying with the three traditional varieties of mold that compose a classical Swiss. "We're constantly experimenting," says Guggisberg. "We have a lot of interesting things in the works, but at the same time we continue to develop our product." The milk that composes Guggisberg's cheese comes from the surrounding local Amish country. "The definition of local has changed over the years," says Guggisberg. "Generally it's local though, far and away the majority of our milk is in a 20 mile radius." For a cheesemaking operation steeped in tradition, Guggisberg cheese readily adapts to the changing demands of the cheese market. Not content to rest on his laurels, Guggisberg is constantly improving his methods and factories, including the expansion of his current plant. "All that equipment is coming from France. We're adding a lot more control to the process," says Guggisberg. "It'll be one more year; we've been at it a while yet." The expansion is not only to scale up production, but to refine Guggisberg Cheese's product. "Plants that were state of the art 10 years ago are not going to be state of the art now," says Guggisberg. "The consuming public has put pressure on the government to protect food safety…. You have to be able to keep up with those new standards." BY MICAH CHEEK If you aren't eating Guggisberg cheese, you aren't paying attention. Guggisberg's Swiss and Baby Swiss have been collecting cheesemaking awards for decades, relying on a commitment to quality and consistency of products that originated in founder Alfred Guggisberg's native Switzerland. Since opening in 1950, Guggisberg Cheese has been refining its cheesemaking process in the hills of Ohio. Richard Guggisberg, son of Alfred and current President of Guggisberg cheese, often has to field questions about the location of his cheesemaking plants. "They're not thinking of Ohio when they think about cheese," says Guggisberg. In fact, Ohio produces the majority of Swiss cheese in the United States. What's more, many of these cheesemakers are Swiss or come from Swiss families. "That's still the case in Ohio," says Guggisberg. "It's an art-science mix that's carried on from one generation to the next." There is a long-standing speculation among the nearby cheesemakers that the high hills themselves are partly responsible for the quality of Ohio's Swiss. "You'll notice that most Swiss cheese plants in this country are located in the hills and foothills," says Guggisberg. "Just like back in Switzerland. They always loved the milk coming from cows from the highlands." Guggisberg Cheese's leading product is Guggisberg continues tradition of Swiss Bliss

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