REGULATION OF THE CONTEST

REGULATION OF THE CONTEST CINCHO CHEESE AWARDS 2016

REGULATION OF THE CONTEST INDEX TABLE OF CONTENTS 2016 1 ARTICLE 1º.- ELIGIBLE CHEESES... 2 ARTICLE 2º.- APPOINTMENT OF THE PRESIDENT AND DIRECTOR OF THE CONTEST... 2 ARTICLE 3º.- ENTRY AND SAMPLE SUBMISSION... 3 Entry... 3 Cheese groups and categories... 4 Sample submission... Error! Marcador no definido. ARTICLE 4 º.- CONTROL OF THE RECEIVED SAMPLES... 9 ARTICLE 5º.- TASTING JURY... 10 ARTICLE 6º.- TASTING SESSIONS... 11 ARTICLE 7º.- CALCULATION OF RESULTS AND AWARDS... 12 ARTICLE 8º.- GENERAL CONDITIONS.... 13 ANNEX A1. SUMMARY OF CLASSIFICATION BY CHEESE GROUPS ACCEPTED FOR CONTEST... 14

ARTICLE 1º.- ELIGIBLE CHEESES The contest is organised by the Agricultural Technological Institute of Castilla y León (ITACyL), an institution attached to the Department of Agriculture and Livestock of the Regional Ministry of Castilla y León. The contest is open to cheese-makers from all over the world, provided they comply with the health legislation currently in force, indicating their sanitary registration. Their products should have a trademark, must be own elaborated and belong to a batch bound for commercialisation. Cheeses produced outside Spain can be submitted by their distributing company in Spain. Any house brands belonging to the distributing company shall be excluded. ARTICLE 2º.- APPOINTMENT OF THE PRESIDENT AND DIRECTOR The organizers appoint the Honorable Madam Milagros Marcos Ortega, Minister of Agriculture of the Regional Government of Castilla y León and President of the Agricultural Technological Institute of Castilla y Léon, as President of the contest. 2 And, Mr. Jose Luis Galván Romo, Technician at the Milk Technological Station of Castilla y León, as Director of the Contest. The duties of the Director are to ensure that this Regulation is complied with, to watch over the correct preparation of the samples as well as their organoleptic examination. To this end, he shall be assisted by the technical unit of the Milk s Technological Station of Castilla y León, which will cooperate to the extent the Director considers necessary. The Director shall decide the number of Juries and will appoint each of the members. Members of the Jury are appointed in a personal capacity, so the Director is the only person authorised to replace them.

The Director shall control the organisation of the tasting sessions by checking the submission order of cheeses and the number of samples to be examined by every Jury. The Director will adopt any means of control that he considers necessary to ensure the compliance with the requirements in this Regulation. He will make sure that the environmental conditions of the tasting room are optimum, monitor the smooth running of the Secretary s office, and particularly the samples handling, to avoid any possibility of error, thus guaranteeing the results secret until the moment of their release and the anonymity of the contestants. ARTICLE 3º.- ENTRY AND CONSIGNEMENT OF SAMPLES ENTRY To enter the contest, you need register at the following website: http://www.premioscincho.com, and the deadline ends on 6 th September. Each applicant can participate in as many categories as he/she wishes, but only one trademark can be presented for each category. 3 The following details are mandatory in the entry application form: Exact and complete details of the applicant cheese factory, as well as the details of its representative; exact name of the cheese, according to the regulations in force, and its date of elaboration. Category and group in which the cheese is included. Animal species to which the product belongs, whether it has been pasteurized or not and its degree of ripening (when it is required). Together with the application form, a Copy of the Sanitary Registration or equivalent document according to the home country legislation, must be sent by email to the following address cincho@premioscincho.com. The producer is responsible for guaranteeing optimal conditions of their cheeses from a health point of view.

Contestants must carefully examine all the samples submitted to the Cincho Cheese Awards in order to ensure they do not contain mites or other contamination. Any sample considered to be infected and / or contaminated shall be withdrawn from the contest. All entries become property of the Contest Organization. CHEESE GROUPS AND CATEGORIES Cheeses entering the Contest should be included in any of these groups: 1. Fresh Cheeses. 2. Soft Cheeses. 3. Hard or semi-hard cheeses. 4. Blue cheeses. 5. Others In each category, different groups will be established in order to classify the cheeses in their proper category: criterion, such as the type of milk (cow s, goat s, sheep s, etc.), the heat treatment (raw or pasteurized), the degree of ripening (according to Royal Decree 1113/2006 Cheeses and Processed Cheeses Quality Regulation) or the milk coagulation processes (enzymatic, acid), have been considered. For the purposes of including a cheese in a group, the age of the cheese will be considered to be the one it is at the start of the sensorial assessment. 4 The groups and categories to compete are: (See table /next page)

No. CATEGORY CATEGORY GROUP GROUP DESCRIPTION 1 1.1 Fresh cheeses obtained by processes of enzymatic coagulation with less than 7 days ripening Fresh 1.2 Fresh cheeses obtained by processes of acid or lactic coagulation with less than 7 days ripening 1.3 Fresh cheeses obtained using Pasta filata technique 2 2.1.1 Soft cheeses made with raw or pasteurized goat s milk. Enzymatic or mixed coagulation creating a compact, elastic and contractile curd. 2.1.2 Soft cheeses made with raw or pasteurized goat s milk. Acid, lactic or mixed coagulation creating a creamy, velvety, crumbly, slightly contractile and without cohesion curd. 2.2.1 Soft cheeses made with raw or pasteurized sheep s milk, curdled with the aid of vegetal rennet. Soft cheeses 2.2.2 Soft cheeses made with raw or pasteurized sheep s milk. Coagulation with coagulating enzyme from no vegetal origin or mixed origin creating a compact, elastic, contractile curd. 2.2.3 Soft cheeses made with raw or pasteurized sheep s milk. Acid, lactic or mixed coagulation creating a creamy, velvety, crumbly, slightly contractile and without cohesion curd. 2.3.1 Soft cheeses made with raw or pasteurized cow s milk. Enzymatic or mixed coagulation creating a compact, elastic and contractile curd. 2.3.2 Soft cheeses made with raw or pasteurized cow s milk. Acid, lactic or mixed coagulation creating a creamy, velvety, crumbly, slightly contractile and without cohesion curd. 5 3 Hard or semihard cheeses 3.1.1 Hard or semi-hard cheeses made with raw goat s milk, with a minimum of 60 days ripening, except for cheeses from livestock farms which have been declared officially safe. 3.1.2 Hard or semi-hard cheeses made with pasteurized goat s milk. 3.1.3 Smoked cheeses made with raw or pasteurized goat s milk.

No. CATEGORY CATEGORY GROUP GROUP DESCRIPTION 3.2.1.1 Hard or semi-hard tender cheeses, made with raw sheep s milk. Cheeses made with raw milk shall have a minimum of 60 days ripening, except for cheeses from livestock farms which have been declared officially safe. 3.2.1.2 Hard or semi-hard semi-cured cheeses, made with raw sheep s milk. Cheeses made with raw milk shall have a minimum of 60 days ripening, except for cheeses from livestock farms which have been declared officially safe. 3.2.1.3 Hard or semi-hard cured cheeses, made with raw sheep s milk. Cheeses made with raw milk shall have a minimum of 60 days ripening, except for cheeses from livestock farms which have been declared officially safe. 3.2.1.4 Hard or semi-hard old cheeses, made with raw sheep s milk. Cheeses made with raw milk shall have a minimum of 60 days ripening, except for cheeses from livestock farms which have been declared officially safe. 3.2.1.5 Hard or semi-hard mature cheeses, made with raw sheep s milk. Cheeses made with raw milk shall have a minimum of 60 days ripening, except for cheeses from livestock farms which have been declared officially safe. 6 3.2.2.1 Hard or semi-hard tender cheeses, made with pasteurized sheep s milk. 3.2.2.2 Hard or semi-hard semi-cured cheeses, made with pasteurized sheep s milk. 3.2.2.3 Hard or semi-hard cured cheeses, made with pasteurized sheep s milk. 3.2.2.4 Hard or semi-hard old cheeses, made with pasteurized sheep s milk. 3.2.2.5 Hard or semi-hard mature cheeses, made with pasteurized sheep s milk. 3.2.3 Smoked cheeses made with raw or pasteurized sheep s milk. 3.3.1 Hard or semi-hard cheeses, made with raw or pasteurized cow s

No. CATEGORY CATEGORY GROUP GROUP DESCRIPTION milk. Cheeses made with raw milk shall have a minimum of 60 days ripening, except for cheeses from livestock farms which have been declared officially safe. 3.3.2 Medium-hard or cooked cow s cheeses. 3.3.3 Smoked cheeses made with raw or pasteurized cow s milk. 3.4.1.1 Hard or semi-hard tender cheeses, made with milk from different animal species. 3.4.1.2 Hard or semi-hard semi-cured cheeses, made with milk from different animal species. 3.4.1.3 Hard or semi-hard cured cheeses, made with milk from different animal species. 3.4.1.4 Hard or semi-hard old cheeses, made with milk from different animal species. 3.4.1.5 Hard or semi-hard mature cheeses, made with milk from different animal species. 7 4 4.1.1 Blue cheeses, made with raw or pasteurized goat s milk. Cheeses made with raw milk shall have a minimum of 60 days ripening, except for cheeses from livestock farms which have been declared officially safe. Blue cheeses 4.1.2 Blue cheeses, made with raw or pasteurized sheep s milk. Cheeses made with raw milk shall have a minimum of 60 days ripening, except for cheeses from livestock farms which have been declared officially safe. 4.1.3 Blue cheeses, made with raw or pasteurized cow s milk. Cheeses made with raw milk shall have a minimum of 60 days ripening, except for cheeses from livestock farms which have been declared officially safe. 4.1.4 Blue cheeses made with raw or pasteurized milk from a mixture of several species. Cheeses made with raw milk shall have a minimum of 60 days ripening, except for cheeses from livestock farms which have been declared officially safe.

No. CATEGORY CATEGORY GROUP GROUP DESCRIPTION 5 Other 5.1.1 Curd cheese produced from whey. 5.1.2 Curd cheese produced from whey with milk added in its production. 5.2.1 Processed cheese spreadable with or without other cheeses or food ingredients added. SAMPLE SUBMISSION The participating cheese samples should be whole cheeses and must be presented unlabelled or without their trademark, so that the organisers of the contest may guarantee that the samples will remain anonymous at the moment of visual assessment. Exceptionally, cheeses bearing a trademark generated by the mold used for the manufacture of this cheese or casein labels allowing the identification of samples are allowed. In these cases the organization may remove the identification elements of the sample. 8 For each sample, at least 4kg of cheese should be submitted in its original form in the post-molding time and after the ripening process. Those cheeses -whose weight after salting- weigh much higher than 4 kg may submit a portion of 4 kg. Place of sample submission: ESTACIÓN TECNOLÓGICA DE LA LECHE DE CASTILLA Y LEÓN Avda. Viñalta s/n, C.P. 34071 Palencia (Spain) Along with the samples, the following documents should be submitted: - Copy of the document generated after online registration. In order an entry application form to be valid, the contest organisers must be in possession of the original document.

- A commercial label of the product (the cheese maker will be held responsible for any labelling abuses, according to the current legislation in the home country). To avoid that humidity formation inside the parcel causes the entry application form to be illegible, it is recommended to place the application form inside a hermetic plastic bag. Transportation and delivery expenses, as well as any custom duties, must be duly paid in advance, when submitting the samples. Samples will be received until 22 nd September except for fresh cheeses and curd cheeses that will be until 28 th September at 14.00 pm. The contest organisers will store them in optimal refrigeration conditions. Any sample received after that date shall lose the right to enter the contest; if requested, the samples will be sent back to their place of origin at the expense of their owners within 7 days after the end of the contest; otherwise the samples become property of the contest organisers. 9 ARTICLE 4 º.- CONTROL OF THE SAMPLES RECEIVED The Contest Organization shall implement the sample control system it considers appropriate for de proper development of the contest and, particularly, it will check: - The reception of the samples as well as the relevant documents. In the event the samples do not comply with this Regulation, they shall be rejected. - The registration of all samples received, accepted or not. Each sample will be given an entry number, having the possibility of issuing a receipt including the entry number and the reception date.

- The samples are kept in optimal environmental conditions, so that they remain in a perfect state during the tasting sessions. At any stage of the Contest, the Organization shall be able to carry out any relevant examination, in order to verify the data on the entry application form. The samples which do not meet the sanitary requirements or the rules for the group to which they are submitted shall lose the right to be assessed or the potential award they might have won. ARTICLE 5º.- TASTING PANEL OF JUDGES The Panel of Judges shall be composed of cheese tasters from different countries around the world. During the Competition, any problems that might arise from the judges shall be solved by the Contest Organization employing any means it deems necessary to that end. Its decisions shall be final. 10 RULES ON FUNCTIONING OF THE PANEL OF JUDGES The panel of judges will meet in a quiet room, properly illuminated and free of odours other than those produced by cheeses- which could have any effect on the tasting. The temperature will be maintained, insofar as possible, between 18 ºC and 22ºC. Smoking in the room is not permitted. Furthermore, the judges should wear a laboratory coat but should avoid wearing perfumes which could disturb the development of the sessions. The judges must remain silent and avoid all gesticulation or mimics showing their impressions during the tasting session. Once the individual evaluation is completed, if there is a significant difference between the score of two tasters, each will explain the justifications for his or her evaluation and they could issue a new score and consider it final.

The cheese samples must be presented to tasters identified with the specific and unique codes they were given at the moment of the reception. All the judges should use the same tasting file in electronic format, so that all the descriptors employed are the same. In case an appropriate hardware cannot be used, the sensorial assessment would be done in print format. In case a blind person is taking part as a taster, his/her score will be adjusted, either by adopting the average score of the tasters of the same panel, or by replacing it with tactile sensations valued by the blind taster. ARTICLE 6º.- TASTING SESSIONS Once the judges have been constituted and in order to specify their function, their members may meet in one or several tasting sessions, in order to compare the results of each taster. Tasting sessions will take place preferably in the mornings; it shall be possible to organise tasting sessions in the afternoons in case there is a big number of samples. 11 Several series of samples shall be shown to the judges. These series shall be examined according to the features of each category of cheese, pursuant to the criteria established by the Contest Director. All cheeses belonging to a certain group and a particular session shall be tasted at the same temperature. Before the first tasting session, a piece of cheese could be presented to the tasters, so as to prepare their taste. This cheese would not take part in the Contest and its tasting would be useful for tasters to know their own assessment as well as the average score of all the members of the Jury. During the Contest, the organisers may add more samples outside the competition- useful for carrying out some quality controls.

FIRST ROUND OF EVALUATION All registered products are initially evaluated by a jury of three people. Starting with a possible maximum of 100 points, some deductions may be made for different defects found by each juror. These defects could be found in appearance, consistency, texture and sensorial characteristics appreciated in flavor. The 25 cheeses awarded gold medals are selected for the Contest next stage. ROUND FOR DESIGNATING THE BEST: Best cheese CINCHO 2016 At this stage, all cheeses previously selected shall be evaluated by every judge of the panel. Once results are known, the average score is calculated and the best scored shall be awarded the Best Cheese Cincho 2016 Award. ARTICLE 7º.- CALCULATION FO RESULTS AND AWARDS 12 At the first round every judge shall issue his/her scores. If deviations between two scores for the same cheese are noticed, dissenting judges shall be informed so that they consolidate or reconsider it; after this process, the average value shall be the definitive score. To be awarded, a sample should receive a score of 80 or more. In each group, at least one cheese may obtain one gold and one silver award, although the maximum number of awards per group could be up to 10% of samples presented for each group. Among these, the best scored, up to a maximum of 40% of awards per group, could be awarded Gold Cincho. The rest could receive Silver Cincho. The calculation of the number of awards shall be rounded up to the highest number when the estimated value is 0,5 or more. All prizes can be declared not awarded.

A prize can be withdrawn when the cheese label does not comply with the current legislation in its home country, or when it makes an improper use of a Designation of Origin or a Protected Geographical Indication. The suggestion of this must be duly documented by the Contest Director or by the competent authorities in the country. ARTICLE 8º.- GENERAL CONDITIONS Lack of veracity in the data provided in the entry application form should result in the immediate ineligibility of the sample. If, after the publication of this Regulation, the Organization considers appropriate to modify any date related to the competition, it would do it on the website: http://www.premioscincho.com All the participants in this Cheese Contest, Cincho Awards of Castilla y León accept the content of the present Regulations 13

ANNEX A1. SUMMARY OF CLASSIFICATION BY GROUPS OF CHEESES ELEGIBLE FOR THE CONTEST BRIEF DESCRIPTION CHEESES GROUPS CINCHO AWARDS 2016 Number Category Species Heat Treatment Group Description 1.1 Enzymatic fresh 1 Fresh cheeses * * 1.2 Lactic coagulation fresh 1.3 Pasta filata Goat * 2.1.1 Enzymatic coagulation goat milk 2.1.2 Lactic coagulation goat milk 2.2.1 Vegetal rennet sheep milk 2 Soft cheeses Sheep * 2.2.2 Enzymatic coagulation sheep milk 2.2.3 Lactic coagulation sheep milk Cow * 2.3.1 Enzymatic coagulation cow milk 2.3.2 Lactic coagulation cow milk Raw 3.1.1 Raw goat milk Goat Pasteurized 3.1.2 Pasteurized goat milk * 3.1.3 Smoked goat cheese 3.2.1.1 Raw sheep milk - tender 3.2.1.2 Raw sheep milk semi-cured Raw 3.2.1.3 Raw sheep milk - cured 3.2.1.4 Raw sheep milk - old 3.2.1.5 Raw sheep milk - mature Sheep 3.2.2.1 Pasteurized sheep milk - tender 3.2.2.2 Pasteurized sheep milk semi-cured 3 Hard or semihard 3.2.2.4 Pasteurized sheep milk - old Pasteurized 3.2.2.3 Pasteurized sheep milk - cured 3.2.2.5 Pasteurized sheep milk - mature * 3.2.3 Smoked sheep cheese 3.3.1 Cow milk Cow * 3.3.2 Cow milk - medium-hard or cooked 3.3.3 Smoked cow cheese 3.4.1.1 Tender - Mixture of milks 3.4.1.2 Semi-cured - Mixture of milks Mixture * 3.4.1.3 Cured - Mixture of milks 3.4.1.4 Old - Mixture of milks 3.4.1.5 Mature - Mixture of milks Goat * 4.1.1 Blue cheese goat milk 4 Blue cheeses Sheep * 4.1.2 Blue cheese sheep milk Cow * 4.1.3 Blue cheese cow milk Mixture * 4.1.4 Blue cheese mixture of milks 5.1.1 Curd cheese 5 Others * * 5.1.2 Curd cheese with milk 5.2.1 Processed cheese spreadable 14

AGE IN DAYS AND DATES OF PRODUCTION TO DETERMINE THE RIPENING WEIGTH Kg. RIPENING Minimum Maximum CHEESE-MAKING PERIOD < 1,5 Kg. > 1,5 Kg. Tender 7 19 10 th to 22 nd September 2016 Semi-cured 20 44 16 th August to 9 th September 2016 Cured 45 99 22 th June to 15 th August 2016 Old 100 Before 21 st June 2016 Semi-cured 35 104 17 th June to 25 th August 2016 Cured 105 179 3 rd April to 16 th June 2016 Old 180 269 4 th January to 2 nd April 2016 Mature 270 Before 3 rd January 2016 15