Why Whole Foods 12 Days of Cheese is The Best Time of The Year
Holiday Cheeseboard
It’s the most wonderful time of the year, when Whole Foods Market conspires to seriously improve the lyrics to a popular holiday tune with its 12 Days of Cheese promotion, running from December 13 to December 24. Who needs drummers drumming when you can have cheeses cheesing? Which do you think has a better possibility of actually providing holiday cheer and improving your sanity this season?
As proof that Whole Foods loves us and wants us to be happy, since 2021, all 12 of the cheeses offered during the promotion are available for all 12 days, sparing us all from 12 trips to Whole Foods in order to score the entire cheesy stash. That continues to be the case, proving beyond all shadow of a doubt that there is a Santa Claus, and her name is Cathy Strange, cheese expert and Ambassador of Food Culture for Whole Foods Market. (That also makes her crackerjack team of heavily credentialed ACS CCP mongers akin to elves…or reindeer.) Here’s everything you need to know about the savings and 2025’s cheese lineup to make the most of this year’s 12 Days of Cheese promotion.
The Savings: 22% to 30% on All 12 Cheeses
Whole Foods already has good prices for high quality cheeses given its goliath buying power, including many artisanal and farmstead selections, but during the 12 Days of Cheese Promotion the 12 featured cheeses are discounted 22%, or 30% for Amazon Prime members. (Eagle-eyed readers will note that this is a bit of a reduced savings from recent years, for which you can doubtlessly blame tariffs.)
The Amazon Prime discount is available either by syncing your Prime account to the Whole Foods app to generate a barcode for purchase in store, or through Amazon directly, where you are able to purchase Whole Foods groceries for pickup or delivery in certain markets. With a 30% total discount available, depending on your cheese needs this season, those savings can seriously add up. In a challenging economic environment, you can at least be assured that Whole Foods can always be counted upon to put us in the holiday spirit with this annual tradition.
The Cheeses
One thing that can always be counted upon for the 12 Days of Cheese is that it is a diverse lineup that basically ensures that you could choose any three or four cheeses at random and still have a varied and compelling cheese board.
This includes selections by some of our favorite newsworthy producers and affineurs including Jasper Hill, Point Reyes, Neal’s Yard, Vermont Creamy, Cypress Grove, Cowgirl Creamery, and Marieke Gouda. You’ll also find the steady presence of Le Gruyère AOP, which categorically holds the distinction of being the best cheese in the world right now, according to both the 2025 Mondial du Fromage and the World Cheese Awards.
Returning Favorite Cheeses
Returning cheeses photo credit Whole Foods Market
Several cheeses frequently make the nice list, and are familiar favorites in the 12 Days of Cheese lineup, such as Neal’s Yard Keen’s Cheddar, Cypress Grove Humboldt Fog, Cowgirl Creamery Organic Mt Tam, Fromageries Papillon Revelation Roquefort, Forever Cheese’s Ca de Ambros Taleggio, and Emmi Le Gruyère AOP Kaltbach Cave-Aged.
Jasper Hill Farm is nearly always represented in the 12 Days promotion by a special-washed Harbison, and the 2025 edition is treated with none-other than Champagne, because we definitely deserve it this year. Among a rotating selection from celebrated French affineur Hervé Mons, a sheep/goat hybrid from the French Basque region called Gabietou is making a glorious return. Vermont Creamery also owns a spot on the list, and oven-ready, spoonable St. Albans will be its noble representative in 2025.
THE New Cheeses
Here’s a closer look at the 3 cheeses that are completely new to the 12 Days of Cheese lineup:
Firefly Farms Cabra LaMancha
There’s much to recommend newcomer Cabra LaMancha to the 12 Days lineup. First, it’s a star in the east, coming from Maryland. (Read: “merry-land” for a holiday spin.) Second, it provides a lesser-seen style than that which is usually found on our typical cheese boards: a washed-rind goat’s milk cheese, with just enough age to keep its shape. (Which is more than most of us are capable of doing this time of year.)
Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Tomarashi
A portmanteau of “Toma,” a signature cheese that Point Reyes is lauded for, and “togarashi,” a Japanese spice blend, we love a cheese whose halls come already decked and ready to party. As evidenced by the past couple of years at the American Cheese Society Judging and Awards, flavored cheeses have really made their way into our hearts and mouths. Tomaroshi has a familiar, buttery base with dazzle from its Japanese interloper, introducing flavors of chili, nigella seeds, orange, ginger, and nori. (Best to get a chunk to serve and a chunk to keep with this one. Self care is important!)
Marieke Truffle Gouda
Truffles are in full force during the holiday season, but full force also describes the cheesemaker in this particular scenario: Wisconsin’s unstoppable Marieke Penterman, who brought her cheesemaking know-how from her native Holland. We can only hope that through this cheese we get a taste of Penterman’s boundless energy. While we hope for the best, what we can be sure of is getting a taste of something exceptional: a creamy, heady gouda expression using old-world technique with milk from spa-treated cows, then studded with black truffles for a festive bow on top of the whole holiday package.