Parmesan under pressure? Extreme heat affects Italian cheese

Hedebølger giver den italienske osteindustri panderynker.

The Italian cheese industry is currently experiencing rising costs due to high temperatures. Archive photo (Photo: © Filippo Monteforte, AFP/Ritzau Scanpix) 21 minutes ago

If you are one of those who generously finish off your pasta dish with a sprinkle of Parmesan, there may be bad news on the way.

Extreme heat is driving up production costs for Parmesan.

This is according to Reuters, which has spoken among others with Nicola Bertinelly, chairman of the Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium and owner of a family dairy farm over 100 years old on the outskirts of Parma.

"Extreme heat affects the quality and quantity of milk," he says.

Under rising temperatures that exceed 40 degrees, production is impacted in several ways.

Among other things, the cows lie down more and eat less, which means they produce up to 10 percent less milk.

The cheese must be aged for a minimum of 12 months, but in some cases it is aged for several years. (Photo: © Matteo Minnella, Reuters/Ritzau Scanpix)

Production of Parmigiano Reggiano, which is the name of the original Italian Parmesan cheese, is only permitted in five provinces, including Emilia-Romagna.

"If it doesn't rain, the grass doesn't grow, hay cannot be produced, and it is impossible to obtain the milk needed to make the cheese," says Bertinelly.

At the same time, energy consumption is rising in the warehouses where the cheese wheels are stored during the aging process for a minimum of 12 months.

"During this summer's intense heat waves, our daily energy consumption increased by about 30 percent," says Giancarlo Ravanetti, director of two of the warehouses operated by Credito Emiliano's unit Magazzini Generali delle Tagliate (MGT).

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