Cheese and ham toastie named nation's favourite by Telford cheese company

The humble cheese and ham toastie has been crowned the nation’s favourite cheese sandwich, as part of a special World Cup of Cheese Sandwiches tournament.

More than 1,100 public votes were cast during the competition, organised by Telford company Bridge Cheese, with some of the nation’s biggest brands including Branston Pickle and Marmite ‘wheying’ in.

The mouth-watering ham and cheese melt beat off strong competition from traditional British favourites such as cheese and pickle and cheese and onion, as well as bougie bagels like smoked salmon and cream cheese and brie and bacon, to claim the title with 63 per cent of the final public vote.

Michael Harte, managing director at Bridge Cheese, said: “It was an all-toastie final and the voting was very close but the Jules Roule this year is going to the cheese and ham toastie.

“I think the fact that we had two hot sandwiches in the final is very reflective of the mood of the nation. An oozing toasted cheese sandwich is the ultimate comfort food and great at any time of the day.”

Sixteen sandwiches started in the World Cup competition’s opening stages, which included groups for traditional and hot sandwiches, plus wildcards and a selection of top picks.

The top two from each category, as voted for by the public on Bridge Cheese’s social media channels, went through to the knockout stages which ended with a grand final between the cheese and ham toastie and a plain grilled cheese sandwich.

“After the success of this year’s competition, I don’t think we’ll be waiting another four years to run our World Cup of Cheese Sandwiches," added Michael.

"After a tough year, we thought it would be great way to celebrate some return to normality whilst supporting our customers in the sandwich industry. We’ll be looking to make it an annual event to support our customers in the sandwich industry."

The World Cup of Cheese Sandwiches was run to mark British Sandwich Week, which was held from 16-22 May.

Bridge Cheese, based at Telford's Stafford Park 13, supplies cheese and dairy products to the food manufacturing and catering industries, as well as providing ingredients to some of the country’s biggest sandwich retailers.