Castello is a 125-year-old brand of cheese produced by Arla Foods amba, an agricultural marketing cooperative based in Denmark. In November, the brand introduced three new varieties--Edam, Gouda and Muenster—to the U.S. market. With the cheeses comes a redesigned package that includes a visual strength scale to help consumers make informed purchase decisions in terms of cheese flavor intensity.
The numbers range from 1 to 6, with 1 equating to a very mild, creamy cheese without any added flavor ingredients. Six suggests intense flavor and is reserved for the brand’s most robust offering--Danish Blue—that has a sharp blue mold flavor. In between these extremes there’s 2, which is a mild, often creamy cheese with light aromatic flavor ingredients, such as dill. 3 has balanced flavor and often contains a slightly bold ingredient, for example, herbs and spices. 4 has bold, well-rounded flavor. For yellow cheeses, this often comes with age but also through the addition of spicy ingredients, such as jalapeño. For mold cheeses, this comes from the moldy veins or topical schmear. 5 is referred to as a strong cheese, which often has a mold taste but still a mild, creamy texture.
