World's Largest Raclette, world record set in Martigny, Switzerland

June 8, 2025

Martigny, Switzerland--A total of 4,893 people took part in a raclette event in Martigny in western Switzerland; 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, setting the new world record for the World's Largest Raclette, according to the WORLD RECORD ACADEMY.

"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," the swissinfo.ch reports.

"“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.

"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."

"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," the swissinfo.ch reports.

"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.”

"The longest raclette oven is 100 m (328 ft 1 in) long and was created by Mifroma (Switzerland), as measured and used in Bern, Switzerland, on 30 November 2014," the Guinness World Records says.

"The oven can cook about 870 portions every 10 minutes."

"Raclette is a dish of Swiss origin, also popular in the other Alpine countries (France, Italy, Germany, Austria), based on heating cheese and scraping off the melted part, then typically served with boiled potatoes.

"Raclette is historically a dish originating from the canton of Valais in Switzerland. This cheese from Valais benefits from an AOP. Raclette cheese is also a Swiss-type cheese marketed specifically to be used for this dish. Raclette is also served as street food, but often with bread instead of potatoes.

"Raclette is a dish native to parts of Switzerland. The raclette cheese round is heated, either in front of a fire or by a special machine, then scraped onto diners' plates. Traditionally the melting happens in front of an open fire, with the big piece of cheese facing the heat. One then regularly scrapes off the melting side. Some restaurants that serve raclette use a heat lamp to substitute for the open fire, with the cheese being put under the lamp as the customer orders and the melted cheese scraped off, as in the traditional method. The melted cheese is accompanied by small firm potatoes..." (Wikipedia)

"With 4,893 guests , Valais surpassed the records set by Saint-Étienne in France (2,236 participants in 2024 and 2,522 in March 2025). This record was validated by a notary present on site, officially marking this monumental feat," the Mister Raclette reports.

To serve this impressive crowd, no fewer than 361 volunteer scrapers were mobilized. They demonstrated their expertise by scraping the cheese directly from the wheel, using the traditional method, contrasting with French "raclonettes" which use pre-cut slices.

"The organization of this event required impressive logistics:
2037 kilos of Raclette du Valais AOP cheese
1,200 kilos of potatoes (1.2 tonnes of potatoes)
1212 jars of pickles and onions
1,500 bottles of wine to accompany this feast.

"Although this record is official, it will not be entered into the Guinness Book of World Records due to the high costs associated with this endeavor. However, for Eddy Baillifard and the organizers, this matters little: "We know we are the best, and that's all that matters."

"The largest raclette in the world took place in Valais. With 4893 guests, including 361 raclette chefs, the organizers of "The Plus Grande Raclette of the World" set a record on Saturday in Martigny VS," the Bluewin reports.

"The over 4000 hungry participants ate a total of 2037 kilograms of cheese, 1200 kilograms of potatoes and 1212 jars of cornichons and onions.

"No fewer than 361 raclette chefs were on hand to serve the thousands of guests, including the president of FC Sion, Christian Constantin, and former World Cup skier William Besse."

Photos: World's Largest Raclette, world record set in Martigny, Switzerland

(1) RTS

(2,3,4) Blick