The Swiss Cheese Union was a cartel

Cartel

A cartel is a formal agreement among competing firms. It is a formal organization of producers and manufacturers that agree to fix prices, marketing, and production. Cartels usually occur in an oligopolistic industry, where there is a small number of sellers and usually involve homogeneous products...

 in Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

 engaged in the promotion of cheese

Cheese

Cheese is a generic term for a diverse group of milk-based food products. Cheese is produced throughout the world in wide-ranging flavors, textures, and forms....

 and cheese products from Switzerland.

The Swiss Cheese Union promoted subjective and objective quality of cheese, but also acted as a regulator, such as on price.

The Swiss Cheese Union was successful in campaigning for cheese fondue

Fondue

Fondue is a Swiss dish of melted cheese served in a communal pot over a spirit lamp , and eaten by dipping long-stemmed forks with bread into the cheese...

 and raclette

Raclette

Raclette is both a type of cheese and a Swiss and French dish based on heating the cheese and scraping off the melted part.-Cheese:Raclette is a semi-firm, cow's milk cheese - most commonly used for melting...

becoming national dishes in Switzerland. Before that, they were both regional dishes.

The Union exported the surplus of the subsidized Swiss production abroad.

External links

• Schweizerische Käseunion AG in Liq., Moneyhouse (German language)
• Trade policy review of Switzerland: May 1996, World Trade Organization