What are the most valuable assets for a country — gold, silver, currency? In Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, the answer looks far less conventional. Here, vast climate-controlled warehouses store one of the region’s most unusual forms of wealth: hundreds of thousands of wheels of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, slowly ageing and quietly getting more valuable over timeTo visitors, the buildings look like silent cheese cathedrals. For Italy’s dairy industry, they are a financial lifeline.Parmigiano Reggiano is a strictly controlled cheese. It can only be made in a specific area of Italy using just three ingredients: milk, salt and rennet. Every wheel must be aged for at least 12 months before it can be sold. According to CNN, many are kept for 24, 36 or even 40 months.However, this long waiting period creates a cash problem for producers. Farmers must be paid every month, and costs for feed, labour and energy continue daily. But the cheese only brings in money much later.To solve this, Credem Bank accepts the cheese wheels as collateral for loans.Giancarlo Ravanetti, who manages the bank’s cheese warehouse business, told CNN, “In Italy about 4 million wheels of Parmigiano Reggiano are made, and we keep 500,000… and allow customers to use the wheels as collateral to obtain financing.” He added that the system handles “about 2,300,000 wheels a year,” worth “about 325 million euros ($382 million) of Parmigiano Reggiano.”
Inside the cheese vault
When wheels arrive at the warehouse, they are scanned and recorded in a digital system with details like production date and origin. Only then are they placed on wooden shelves inside large storage halls.In the warehouse, conditions are tightly controlled. Temperature, humidity and airflow are regulated. Staff check the wheels every day for cracks or damage.After 12 months, the Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium carries out a tapping test, hitting each wheel with a hammer to check its quality. Only wheels that pass are marked with the official fire-branded seal.Once approved, the wheels can be used as loan security. The warehouse acts as a guarantee that the cheese exists and is in good condition. Ravanetti says the bank has run this system for more than 100 years without losing money.The Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium oversees the entire system. It includes around 300 producers and more than 2,000 dairy farmers. Spokesperson Fabrizio Raimondi said that it represents “approximately 50,000 people” and a sector with “a turnover over 4 billion.” The group checks quality, protects the brand and stops fake products. “These sealers can assure the consumer that this is the real one and the quality is good,” he says.Most producers work through cooperatives. Paolo Ganzerli of Granterre, an Italian cheesemaker, pointed out that though this system is important, it is also financially challenging. Granterre is owned by producer cooperatives, so it must pay farmers quickly even though income from cheese comes much later.He said, “Without this system of leverage, the world of Parmigiano Reggiano cannot exist.”Making the cheese is also expensive. Cows must be fed locally grown food, and milk quality changes depending on the area. Costs have risen sharply in recent years.Ganzerli said, “The cost to produce the feeding for the cows, the cost for everything, increased a lot… energy, transport, logistics — everything is more expensive now.”
Rising demand for Italian cheese
In 2025, exports of Parmigiano Reggiano passed domestic sales for the first time, reaching 50.5% of total sales worldwide.International demand rose by 2.7%. Sweden grew 8.8%, the UK 7.8% and Spain 2.5%. The United States, the biggest export market, grew 2.3% but remains unstable due to new tariffs. Raimondi said “There is regulatory uncertainty, and many operators are waiting before placing new orders.”In Italy, sales fell by 10% in 2025 as higher prices led people to buy less. However, most households still continued to buy it. Prices rose strongly, with 12-month wheels reaching €13.22/kg and 24-month wheels €15.59/kg. Production also increased to 4.19 million wheels.Ganzerli says the cheese is seen as healthy because it is lactose-free, high in protein and has no additives. But he warns that if prices rise too much, people may switch to cheaper cheeses like Grana Padano.Producers usually receive 60–80% of the value of a wheel upfront by using it as collateral. New blockchain systems now also allow cheese stored at farms to be used for loans. The Consortium is also trying to boost tourism, aiming to grow visits from 85,000 to 300,000 by 2029.Parmigiano Reggiano is now a €4 billion industry supported by around 300 dairies. It depends on tradition, strict rules and financial systems working together.In the silent warehouses, the wheels continue to age slowly, turning time and patience into value.
