Summer heat threatens Italy's billion-dollar cheese economy
· Toronto Sun
See more Toronto Sun on Google — save as a Preferred Source
Summer heat waves are putting the squeeze on Italy’s cheese reserves, and it’s having a major impact on a culturally iconic economy that predates da Vinci, Michelangelo and Dante.
Visit tr-sport.click for more information.
The weather is affecting “cheese banks” in Emilia-Romagna, where hundreds of thousands of Parmigiano Reggiano wheels are stored as collateral for farm loans. The heat is pushing up warehouse energy bills to keep them refrigerated and thinning out the milk supply to create them.
It all affects a billion-dollar economy that boasts more than a thousand years of tradition, strict regulation and artisanal skill. Each wheel of cheese represents months of painstaking labour, patience and maturation.
How it works
According to Euronews , Credito Emiliano takes young, unmatured wheels of the cheese as collateral, and has done so for more than 70 years. Subsidiary Magazzini Generali delle Tagliate matures the cheese in Reggio Emilia and Modena, and holds more than 500,000 wheels valued at more than $482 million.
Cheese producers get up to 80% of the value of the wheel up front. Parmigiano needs at least 12 months to age, often up to 36 months, which ties up cash smaller dairies can’t spare.
Blockchain lets farmers promise wheels while the cheese stays warehoused, which allows more lending capacity, but, due to the recent heat, storing the cheese at proper temperatures has become markedly more difficult and a financial risk.
Power consumption at the cheese vaults has climbed 30% during Italy’s heatwaves. The weather has forced the banks to update cooling systems. Since some wheels take three years to mature, every hot summer creates a risk long before the cheese gets sold — and this summer is tracking to be one of the hottest in Italy’s recorded history.
How heat affects production
It starts with the cow. When temperatures reach 40°C, they lie down and eat less, cutting milk yields as much as 10% and affecting the quality of the milk they do produce. Worse still, the cheese can only be made in five Italian provinces because of the hay and grass grown there that the cows feed on, so a heatwave in those areas hits the economy harder.
“Extreme heat impacts milk’s quality and quantity,” said Nicola Bertinelli, president of the Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium.
Upstream hardships could potentially devastate the economy. Italy produced 4.19 million wheels in 2025 with a turnover of more than $6 billion, according to the Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium .
And we gotta have our Parm
Experts note that Parmigiano Reggiano is naturally lactose‑free, high in protein and free of additives — and some consider it to be a “superfood.” International demand has only grown for the cheese, with Canadian demand growing by 8%.