The Swiss Cheese Union (, ) was a marketing and trading organization in Switzerland, which from 1914 to 1999 served as a cartel to control cheese production. To this end, the Swiss Cheese Union mandated production be limited to only a few varieties, chiefly Gruyere and Emmental, and bought the entire production and distribution of cheese at prices set by the Swiss Federal Council. It also coordinated the national and international marketing for these varieties of cheese. The Swiss Cheese Union was particulary successful in campaigning for cheese fondue, which became a very popular dish in Switzerland and abroad. It is nowadays often considered to be the Swiss national dish. Before that, it was only a regional dish. History 1914-1920s Throughout the course of World War I, Switzerland remained neutral and maintained the health of its massive cheese production industry. Exports of the product suffered in part due to the devastation wrought upon customers in the surrounding countries; these numbers would remain low until after World War II. The war exacerbated this further as a lack of hay and fodder to use as feed for dairy animals showed sharp decreases in production. In an effort to combat this slump in exports, cheese producers determined to develop strict non-compete guidelines, establishing a cartel that became known as the Swiss Cheese Union. According to journalist Robert Smith, "The union set the price for milk. It told dairymen how much milk to produce and who they could sell it to. They told the cheesemakers how much cheese to make, and then set the prices for the cheese. And it was all so complicated, this cheese business, that they actually narrowed down the number of cheeses that people could produce. Switzerland used to make over 1,000 different kinds of cheeses; the Cheese Union supported seven." Inter-War Period The Swiss Cheese Union's success in controlling production soon presented a problem: overproduction of cheese in a saturated, stagnant market. Initially, the Swiss Cheese Union was able to float the dairy market by buying cheese from the milk association at fixed prices and then reselling the cheese to itself, but the logic of this was so dizzying that it could not be the final answer. A more long-term solution presented itself in the form of fondue. According to former director of the Musee Gruerien Isabelle Raboud-Schuele, "Up until 1930, fondue was essentially only known in the French-speaking