Swiss claim record for world’s largest raclette

The world record for the largest raclette was held in Martigny, Switzerland, on April 5. Keystone-SDA

A total of 4,893 people took part in the world's biggest raclette event in Martigny in western Switzerland on Saturday. The traditional Swiss dish is made of melted cheese served with boiled potatoes and pickles.

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“It’s a phenomenal success, an unbelievable record, and what a tremendous response from the public and the scrapers,” declared Eddy Baillifard, who came up with the idea of the world record attempt, on Saturday.

In March 2024, the first edition of the biggest “raclonette” attracted 2,236 participants to Saint-Etienne, France. On March 22 of this year, their second edition broke the record with 2,522 guests.

The aim of the Swiss event was to welcome over 4,000 raclette lovers. Finally, the target was exceeded by over 20%. By mid-February, all the tickets had been sold in just one hour and 20 minutes.

FC Sion’s Christian Constantin

“We couldn’t leave the world record for the biggest raclette to the French. But above all, we wanted to showcase raclette as a cultural heritage and promote the authenticity and excellence of Valais AOP cheese, an emblem of Swiss gastronomy,” said Samuel Bonvin, the director of myexpo, the organiser of the event.

In all, 2,037 kilograms of cheese were consumed, 1,200 kg of potatoes and 1,212 jars of gherkins and onions.

A total of 361 cheese scrapers served the thousands in attendance, including FC Sion President Christian Constantin and former World Cup skier William Besse.

Guinness not invited

For budgetary reasons (CHF15,000 francs to be advanced) and time, the organisers did not invite representatives from Guinness World Records to validate the results.

“We know we’re the best and that’s good enough for us,” said Baillifard, adding that they plan to repeat the experience.

“I’m convinced that we could double the number of participants without any problem, but for this first edition, we wanted to be reasonable and we did well. The record of 4,893 participants was validated by a notary.”

Adapted from French by DeepL/sb

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