{"id":40869,"date":"2026-08-18T12:35:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T12:35:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/40869\/"},"modified":"2026-08-18T12:35:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T12:35:11","slug":"hold-the-cheese-italys-extreme-heat-waves-are-messing-with-your-dinner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/40869\/","title":{"rendered":"Hold The Cheese! Italy\u2019s Extreme Heat Waves Are Messing With Your Dinner"},"content":{"rendered":"

When temperatures peak in Northern Italy, dairy cows produce less milk and the warehouses or \u201ccaves\u201d used to age the Parmigiano Reggiano<\/a> wheels cost more to cool. Such is the case now, but what I learned recently is that banks such as the Credito Emiliano (Credem)<\/a> use the cheese as collateral for dairy farmers\u2019 loans. Will hot summers melt the industry?<\/p>\n

Wheels after wheels of Parmigiano Reggiano maturing in the warehouse.<\/p>\n

Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium<\/p>\n

Imagine a world without Parmigiano: spaghetti bolognese left begging for salty flakes, tender risotto crying for umami depth, a sad Caesar salad missing the granular curls that add sandy texture to crunchy lettuce leaves. Unimaginable!<\/p>\n

Not since the canicola of 2003 has Northern Italy experienced such heat waves. On August 6, Parma reported a peak of 104.5 degrees Fahrenheit, and these peaks are Not since the canicola of 2003 has Northern Italy experienced such heat waves. Has climate change I sprinkle onto almost everything.<\/p>\n

Back to Parmigiano-Reggiano, named after Parma<\/a> and Reggio Emilia<\/a>, two of the Italian provinces where it is produced. The cheese boasts a Protected Designation of Origin (POD), meaning that to claim its registered name, the cheese must come from a specific area, from specific milk and, you can see where I\u2019m headed with this, from specific cows being fed specific hay and grass. It doesn\u2019t stop here. One of the key elements of Parmigiano-Reggiano lies in the fact that the wheels need to be stored and aged at least 12 months and on average two years. <\/p>\n

Cows on a hot summer day in the Reggio Emilia province<\/p>\n

Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium<\/p>\n

Not everyone sees the situation as worrisome.<\/p>\n

\u201cProduction is not currently at risk,\u201d said Nicola Bertinelli, President of the Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium, \u201cbut the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events linked to climate change is a source of concern for our entire supply chain.\u201d <\/p>\n

I may romanticize the way a chunk of cheese satisfies my cravings for salty, crunchy snacks, but we are talking big business. The Parmigiano-Reggiano Consortium generates four million wheels a year, valued at close to four billion Euros, and exports about 50% of total sales.<\/p>\n

Parmigiano Reggiano cheese in white background, Italy. (Photo by: Fabiano Caddeo\/REDA\/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

REDA\/Universal Images Group via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Credem has been storing and aging Parmigiano Reggiano wheels and using them as collateral for loans since 1953, and it is its subsidiary, Magazzini Generali delle Tagliate, that runs the climate-controlled \u201ccaves.\u201d The farmers can borrow up to 80% of the estimated value of the cheese, but the question remains whether that will evolve as heat waves drive up energy costs. <\/p>\n

Farmers go to many lengths to keep their animals comfortable during a heat wave, using fans, water spraying and environmental monitoring driving. The entire supply chain could be affected. I don\u2019t know about you, but I\u2019m ready to stock up!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When temperatures peak in Northern Italy, dairy cows produce less milk and the warehouses or \u201ccaves\u201d used to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":40870,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1009,1346,26166,18271,26970,26969,5,304,21918],"class_list":["post-40869","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-italy","tag-cheese","tag-climate-change","tag-credito-emiliano","tag-heat-wave","tag-https-www-forbes-com-companies-credito-emiliano-credito-emiliano","tag-https-www-parmigianoreggiano-com-en-usparmigiano-reggiano","tag-italy","tag-northern-italy","tag-parmigiano-reggiano"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40869","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40869"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40869\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40870"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40869"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40869"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40869"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}