A Kelowna grocery store was part of a cheesy challenge that some people called brie-lievable.
On Saturday morning (June 14), Peter's Independent Grocer was one of over 450 Loblaws establishments across B.C. and Canada attempted to break their own Guinness World Record of cracking more than 1,800 wheels of Parmigiano Reggiano, flown in from Italy all at the same time.
"[We've] been working on it for quite a while because all the wheels were ordered from Italy," said Independent Grocer owner Peter Boyd. "It's quite a bit of work behind the scenes."
The challenge started simultaneously across the country at exactly 9 a.m. Pacific time, with four wheels of cheese cracked out in Kelowna, which took just under 10 minutes. In Penticton, five wheels were cracked in five minutes and one second. Stores in Vernon and Kamloops also took part in the challenge.
Now that it's over, every store has to send all their photos, videos, and paperwork to Guinness World Records. Loblaws should know within a few days if they have broken their previous record. Although it hasn't to be made official, the old record was expected to be broken.
When people attempt world records, witnesses have to be present and sign off on some of the paperwork. In Kelowna, the witnesses were some Saturday regulars to the store, including a dad and his three kids.
After the cheese was cracked, the store gave out samples to whoever wanted to try. One man in the store was from Italy and came across the challenge. He said the cheese "tastes like home."
Now that the challenge is over, the Kelowna store will sell the cheese but also experiment with it, whether it's through baking, shredding or flaking. Boyd also plans to get in contact with the Kelowna Italian Club to donate some of the cheese.
"We love to give back to our community," added Boyd.
Two years ago, the Loblaws broke the record by breaking 1,209 wheels. Boyd said on Saturday morning the record might never be broken, but also hinted at the company trying to crack more than 2,000 wheels in two years time.
"You never know," said Boyd.
Each cheese wheel weighs about 44 kilograms, with each kilo costing around $7, meaning each wheel costs approximately $300 per wheel.
- With files from Tricia Leslie
