CultureWhat 6,000 Cheeses Actually Looks Like
When we started Fromag, we thought there were about 2,000 cheeses in the whole world.
We were wrong. Very wrong.
The mission: try every cheese in the world. What we didn't anticipate is just how deep the rabbit hole goes. We're at 6,004 cheeses across 65 countries — and the map keeps expanding.
The Part That Isn't France
The most interesting data isn't at the top of the list. It's this:
- 🇮🇳 India — 8 cheeses
- 🇫🇮 Finland — 5 cheeses
- 🇵🇰 Pakistan — 3 cheeses
- 🇬🇪 Georgia — 2 cheeses
- 🇯🇵 Japan — 1 cheese
- 🇬🇭 Ghana — 1 cheese
- 🇦🇫 Afghanistan — 1 cheese
These aren't gaps. They're proof that wherever humans have kept animals, they've made cheese:
- Juustoleipa — Finnish bread cheese, toasted until it squeaks, made from reindeer milk
- Sulguni — Georgian stretched curd, brined in whey, best eaten warm
- Wagashi — made by Fulani herders in Ghana, no cave or PDO required
- Mt. Fuji Charcoal — yes, Japan has a charcoal-ash cheese. Find it on Fromag.
Cheese doesn't belong to Europe. It belongs to every people who ever needed to preserve milk and found a way.
The Map at 6,004
| Country | Cheeses | Share of Catalog |
|---|---|---|
| 🇫🇷 France | 3,483 | 58.0% |
| 🇺🇸 United States | 943 | 15.7% |
| 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | 385 | 6.4% |
| 🇮🇹 Italy | 310 | 5.2% |
| 🇨🇦 Canada | 119 | 2.0% |
| 🇦🇺 Australia | 101 | 1.7% |
| 🇪🇸 Spain | 95 | 1.6% |
| 🇳🇱 Netherlands | 95 | 1.6% |
| 🇨🇭 Switzerland | 75 | 1.2% |
| 🇮🇪 Ireland | 49 | 0.8% |
| 56 other countries | 349 | 5.8% |
What the Numbers Tell Us
France at 58% isn't bias — it's reality. Centuries of AOC protections, regional specificity, and cheesemakers inheriting starter cultures from their grandparents. You can spend a lifetime in Normandy alone.
The US at 943 reflects who built this platform. English-speaking, American, naturally pulled toward producers with websites. Italy, Spain, Germany, Austria — all undercounted. We know it. Coming for you next.
The UK at 385 is climbing fast. Industrial cheesemaking and wartime rationing nearly erased centuries of farmhouse tradition. What's happening now is as much recovery as discovery.
That last row — 56 countries, 349 cheeses — is the most exciting row in the table. Each entry is a tradition that rarely makes it onto a cheese plate in New York or London. That's exactly why we're here.
We thought there were 2,000 cheeses in the world. There are at least 6,000. And we are only getting started.