About Jarlsberg Cheese - #1 specialty cheese brand in U.S.

Jarlsberg has been exported to the US for over 45 years and is America’s #1 selling brand of specialty cheese. Claiming the highest awareness among U.S. consumers over any other imported cheese in the U.S., the mild, nutty & unique taste-unlike any other domestic or imported cheese- is a testimony to the quality and consistency of the Norwegian cheese producers behind this famous brand. Norwegian cheese has been imported to the United States since 1940 and reached 1.5 million pounds of exports by 1969. These exports included Norvegia, Gjestost and Nokkel. Jarlsberg was introduced to the U.S. in 1965.

Jarlsberg is produced in 20 lb wheels and is made from pasteurized cow’s milk. The cheese is classified by the United States Food and Drug Administration as a semi-soft part skim cheese, however due to the eye formation and method of production, Jarlsberg has been classified for U.S. Customs purposes of entry into the States as a Swiss/Emmenthaler class.

Norwegian cheese makers, like their counterparts in the United States and a number of other countries, attempted to produce domestic versions of the increasingly popular Emmenthaler cheese from Switzerland. Beginning in 1956 and through 1965, the University of Agriculture in Norway conducted developmental research on a semi-soft part skim cheese with eye formation. Professor Ole M. Ystgaard is credited with the development of the bacterial cultures and production techniques used to produce the cheese we all now know as Jarlsberg-named after Count Vadel Jarlsberg whose estate was on the Oslo Fjord near where the cheese was first produced.