These are the winners of Cheese Star 2025

The winners of the LP industry competition Käse-Star 2025 have been announced: Germany's best cheese service counters are Edeka Niemerszein in Hamburg, E-Center WEZ in Stadthagen, and Rewe Stanislawski und Laas in Hamburg.

Who has the best cheese counter in the country? Lebensmittel Praxis magazine selected those with the best cheese departments from among numerous applicants. And here are the winners:

In the small market category (with a sales area of up to 2,000 m²), the team from Edeka Niemerszein in Hamburg-Winterhude prevailed over the competition in the service counter category. Also in the final round were Edeka Jestetten and Rewe Wörrstadt.

According to the high-caliber jury, the best service counter in the category of stores with a sales area of 2,001 to 3,500 m² is at E-Center WEZ in Stadthagen. Its employees came out on top, ahead of Marktkauf Speicher in Halle and Rewe Center Heidelberg Handschuhsheim.

The frontrunner in the service counter category for stores with a sales area of over 3,500 m² is Rewe-Center Stanislawski & Laas in Hamburg-Winterhude. Its team successfully competed in the final selection against Marktkauf Knödgen in Recklinghausen and Globus Koblenz Bubenheim.

In the Prepack category, the team from Edeka Stadler & Honner prevailed over Globus Markthalle Kaiserslautern and Rewe Haase in Neustadt Holstein.

The awards ceremony was once again held at Petersberg near Bonn, attended by numerous participants from the industry. They had previously enjoyed an exciting conference program in the afternoon. After the opening by LP editor-in-chief Hendrik Varnholt, Monika Wohlfahrt, managing director of Zentrale Milchmarkt-Berichterstattung, gave the keynote speech on the effects of milk shortages on the cheese industry.

Philipp Hennerkes, Managing Director of the German Food Retail Association, then spoke about the consequences of market consolidation for the retail sector. Nina Triller and Luisa de Ceglia concluded the lecture program with a presentation entitled “Social media – what are the benefits for cheese counters?”

Cheese scout Wolf Wagener led the practical part of the congress. He shared his knowledge with visitors under the heading “How to create worlds of enjoyment.” In a second practical workshop, visitors to the event searched for their “favorite cheese.” They tasted a total of six different cheeses and evaluated them according to the following criteria: smell and aroma, consistency and mouthfeel, and taste. A secret ballot produced a close but clear result: Royaal Grand cru (aged 12 months) from Beemster was named Favorite Cheese 2025.