La Crisi Dei Formaggi

“The cheese crisis” – the effect of the economic downturn on Italy’s parmigiano industry.

Italy is planning to bail-out some cheese makers, just as banks and automakers are being rescued elsewhere. The Independent reported:

With Italian consumption falling as costs soar, almost a third of [Parmesan] producers now face bankruptcy. Now Italy’s Minister of Agriculture, Luca Zaia, has come to the rescue, promising to buy 100,000 Parmigiano Reggiano cheeses, and also 100,000 of its less costly competitor, Grana Padano. This is Italy’s big cheese bailout. Essentially, the government will be gobbling up 3 percent of Parmesan production at an estimated cost of €50m ($67.8m) and distributing it to the needy.

In assessing the reaction to this rescue, The Financial Times was unable to resist an avalanche of puns:

The move has already grated producers of other cheese varieties. Makers of buffalo mozzarella, for instance, fear that without dipping into a fondue of government cash they too may fall by the whey-side. The blood of some economic observers has curdled at the thought of the Italian government rescuing any and every industry facing difficulty. Unlike the cheese itself, the case for protecting parmigiano has not been easy for some to digest.