Meet Emilia D'Albero, the Brooklyn Cheesemonger Who Beat the French at Their Own Game

"When the winners of the 2025 Mondial du Fromage - the so-called " Cheese Olympics" - were announced in Tours, France, history was made. Emilia D'Albero of Formaticum, a Brooklyn-based company that specializes in cheese tools and paper, took first place, becoming the first American ever to earn the title of world's best cheesemonger. Courtney Johnson, owner of Seattle's Street Cheese, placed third. France's Matthieu Thuillier landed in second."

"For D'Albero, the honor was both surreal and hard-won. "It never seemed accessible to me until the day I walked into the exposition center," she says. "I spent 10 months preparing, but not because I wanted to win - I just didn't want to embarrass myself. I wanted to represent our industry and our country as best I could.""

"Like many in the industry, D'Albero didn't set out to be a cheesemonger. As a kid, her favorite snack was Jarlsberg. While studying Italian in college, she became fascinated by the culture and history behind food. After graduating, she joined Eataly in New York, where she worked in events and education, sitting in on hundreds of culinary classes. "The ones I loved most were always the cheese tastings," D'Albero recalls. "I wanted to learn how to do a craft. By far, it was cheese. So I left the corporate office and got a job behind the Eataly cheese counter.""

Emilia D'Albero won the 2025 Mondial du Fromage in Tours, becoming the first American to earn the title of world's best cheesemonger. Courtney Johnson placed third and France's Matthieu Thuillier placed second. D'Albero prepared for ten months, motivated by the desire to represent the industry and country well rather than simply to win. Her path into cheesemongering began with a childhood love of Jarlsberg, study of Italian food culture, and work at Eataly where repeated tasting, education, and hands-on counter experience accelerated her craft. Being a cheesemonger requires building a vast mental library of cheeses and persistent tasting practice.

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