Cheese lovers may want to add a few new items to their Kroger shopping list. Six cheeses Murray's Cheese's Cave-Aged program won medals at the 2026 American Cheese Society Awards, one of the top competitions in the artisan cheese industry, the grocery chain announced.
The American Cheese Society's annual competition is one of the most prestigious in the artisan cheese industry. More than 1,300 cheeses were entered in this year's contest, according to Kroger.
Here's what won and where customers can buy the cheeses.
Which Murray's cheeses won awards?
According to Kroger's announcement, three cheeses (Treeline, Savage, and Mini Greensward) won medals in their first-ever ACS competition appearances. Double Doe returned to the winner's circle after also taking top honors in 2024.
Here
are the cheeses that earned medals:
- Double Doe: First place, washed rind, other milks, open category
- Treeline: Second place, washed rind, cow milk, open category
- Savage: Second place, American-made international style, cow milk
- Mini Greensward: Second place, cheeses wrapped in bark
- Stockinghall: Second place, clothbound cheddar, cow milk, aged more than 13 months
- Carpenter's Wheel: Third place, goat's milk cheese, aged more than 60 days
The awards come nearly a decade after Kroger acquired Murray's Cheese in 2017.
Where can you buy the cheeses?
The cheeses are available at Kroger-family stores nationwide and through Kroger's online marketplace, according to the company.
Murray's and Kroger's longstanding partnership
Kroger and Murray's have partnered since 2008, when Murray's cheese shops began appearing inside Kroger stores.
By the time Kroger acquired the New York-based retailer in 2017, more than 350 Murray's shop-in-shop locations operated across Kroger's family of stores.
How many Kroger stores does Ohio have?
Kroger, headquartered in Cincinnati, operates 197 stores across 114 Ohio cities, according to the official store count. This includes 26 grocery stores in Cincinnati, 16 stores in Columbus and six locations in Dayton.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Kroger wins big with these award-winning Murray's cheeses
