Why Parmesan Cheese Is So Expensive
[Music]
a wheel of parmesan cheese can cost over
a thousand dollars
the average wheel weighs 88 pounds which
means it costs over 11 dollars per pound
[Music]
that might not sound like a lot but it's
more than double the price of your
average cheddar
[Music]
a wheel of parmesan cheese takes at
least one year to age
131 calories of milk to make and it can
only be made in a small area in northern
italy
parmesan cheese is a big business for
italy an average of 3.6 million wheels
are produced each year and the industry
is worth an eye popping 2.2 billion
euros that's about 2.5 billion us
dollars making this cheese one of
italy's biggest exports
every single cheese wheel is made in a
restricted area in northern italy in the
region of emilia romagna its italian
name in fact
parmigiano-reggiano means from the
cities of parma and red emilia
so how does this
turn into this
and what makes it so special
we went to a dairy in parma italy to
find out
[Music]
the very first producers of parmesan
cheese were monks over a thousand years
ago
then like now parmesan wheels were made
with only three ingredients
cow milk salt and remnant
there are only 329 dairies in the whole
world that are certified to produce
parmesan cheese
and they're all based in the same area
where the monks used to make it
in fact it isn't even possible to make
the exact same product outside of the
production area and why is that
turns out it's all about three good
bacteria that only grow in this specific
territory
[Music]
conservation of
[Music]
[Music]
it takes 131 gallons of milk to make one
wheel of parmesan cheese
that's whole or milk
there is combine freshly milked whole
milk with daiyo the skim milk to make
the cheese
[Music]
the two milks are transferred in these
copper vats along with fermented whey a
sort of sourdough and then rennet an
enzyme which gives the milk a
yogurt-like texture
[Music]
the cheese master will then split the
milk into curds using this tool called
spino
[Music]
a
together we change in the cheese texture
cooking the milk does another essential
job
do you remember the three good bacteria
well they're not alone
other bacteria bad bacteria might have
joined the party
cooking the milk ensures that only the
good bacteria can continue the journey
while the others are kicked out
when cooked the curd travels all the way
to the bottom of the vat where it's left
to settle
[Music]
45 minutes later here it is a compact
muscle current weighing 220 pounds
[Music]
this mask is the equivalent of two
cheese wheels
and split carefully by workers with
linen clothes
[Music]
each of is then transferred into modes
[Music]
at 8 pm the cheese is covered with this
stencil which will engrave the logo
parmigiano-reggiano
this dots are the mark of origin used to
tell customers that this is the real
thing made in the same restricted area
where monks used to live in the middle
ages
each wheel is also given an id it's this
plaque made from milk protein which
contains information about where it was
produced and when
the stencil is removed four days later
and the wheels are praised into brines
where they stay completely plunged for
about 19 days
this process helps to form the cheese
rind which acts as a barrier for the
juice
and this is when the moderation process
begins
[Music]
wheels remain relatively untouched for
one year
after that a master grader will respect
them
and brandon
[Music]
the average maturation is two years but
some wheels are aged as long as 10 years
to achieve a stronger nuttier taste
[Music]
a longer moderation period makes the
price go higher
that's why
vecchio very old parmesan that has
matured for three years will be sold on
the market for an average of 13 euros
that's about 15 us dollars per pound
this high price means that there is now
a black market of counterfeit parmesan
products
[Music]
italy has been struggling with fake
products for years
in fact the problem is so big
that the fakes have become an industry
of their own
that is estimated to be worth a hundred
billion euros that's about 113 billion
us dollars with parmigiano reggiano
being one of the biggest brands
fighting copycats
while the cheese is protected in the
european union under the protected
designation of origin scheme it is still
struggling to get the recognition it
deserves in the rest of the world
[Music]
so
how do you recognize a real parmesan
cheese
do you remember this dota stencil
that's a solid indication that the
cheese is legit
if that's not visible the packaging
should contain parmigiano-reggiano's
official logo
and they use protected designation of
origin
[Music]
you