It's the cheese

[thatguy]

From the tales of Baron von Munchhausen



--tg

[Drunk Monk]

$390,000 Cheddar Theft: Six Arrested in London Artisanal Cheese Fraud
Six people have been arrested after a sophisticated scam last October tricked Neal’s Yard Dairy into handing over more than 24 tons of high-end cheddar, valued at around $390,000.
By Taylor Leach
Updated August 18, 2025 01:41 PM

Operation Got Milk
(Canva)
Last October, Neal’s Yard Dairy, one of Britain’s top artisanal cheese suppliers, fell victim to a sophisticated scam in which more than 24 tons of high-end cheddar cheese wheels were stolen. Authorities have now arrested six men in connection with the case.
In 2024, the London-based company delivered 950 wheels of cloth-bound cheddar believing the order came from a legitimate wholesale distributor for a major French retailer. In reality, the company had been tricked by fraudsters posing as genuine buyers. The scam was discovered only after payment failed to arrive and the cheeses, sourced from three different artisan producers, were already in the hands of the criminals. The stolen stock was valued at approximately $390,000.
In an Instagram update last fall, Neal’s Yard Dairy stated:
“Neal’s Yard Dairy has been the victim of a theft resulting in the loss of over 22 tonnes (24.25 tons) of clothbound cheddar. Over 950 wheels of Hafod, Westcombe, and Pitchfork Cheddar were delivered before the fraud was discovered. Despite the significant financial blow, we have honored our commitment to our small-scale suppliers and paid all three artisan cheesemakers in full.”
The investigation began shortly after the theft, with a 63-year-old man initially arrested on suspicion of fraud by false representation and handling stolen goods. Further arrests followed in the new year, including a 37-year-old man in January on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud and handling stolen goods. Additional arrests involved men aged 45, 54, 57 and 63, with a 50-year-old also interviewed under caution. All six men have been released under investigation while detectives from the Metropolitan Police’s Specialist Crime Command continue inquiries.
Tom Calver, director of Westcombe Dairy in Somerset and producer of some of the stolen cheese, said in an interview with the Independent that he was “hugely distressed” by the theft.
“It is ridiculous, out of all the things to steal in the world, 24 tons of cheese,” Calver said. “What it does show, which I am amazed about, is the value people put on these amazing artisan foods.”
Patrick Holden, owner of Holden Farm Dairy, revealed that 2.5 tons of his Hafod Welsh cheddar were also part of the stolen stock.
“It was the biggest order we ever had, so it was quite a shock,” Holden said. “Our cheese is limited in quantity, but we had it in storage, and we worked out it was the most we could spare.”
Neal’s Yard Dairy has confirmed that all three artisanal cheesemakers were paid in full, ensuring they did not bear any financial loss. The company continues to work with police to identify the perpetrators and recover the stolen cheese.

[King Bob]

Was looking at the Cheese Trail site (posted here by DM last year), and there are a lot of places on there now, although some are stores and farmers' markets. And most up North or down South. But there is an Indian dairy that has a store in downtown Saratoga, although it only keeps evening hours.

[Drunk Monk]

[The Queen]

“Artisinal cheese fraud” sounds like a great band name.

[thatguy]

https://finance.yahoo.com/economy/articl...35856.html

Italy’s $4.7 billion cheese economy is feeling the heat as climate change threatens its cheese banks that hold Parmigiano wheels as loan collateral

Catherina Gioino 
Mon, August 10, 2026 at 2:08 PM PDT

In the hills of Emilia-Romagna, a bank vault holds more than half-a-million wheels of Parmigiano Reggiano, worth well over 300 million euros.

The vault belongs to the bank Credito Emiliano, known colloquially as Credem, which has accepted young wheels of Parmigiano Reggiano as collateral for loans to local dairy farms since 1953.

But now, extreme heat is threatening Italy's "cheese banks," and economists who study heat's effect on growth say the exposure runs well beyond a single vault but into the country's vineyards, its olive groves, and its broader economy.

A blockchain-backed cheese loan collateral program
After receiving the wheels of cheese from dairy farmers, a Credem subsidiary, Magazzini Generali delle Tagliate, ages the wheels in two warehouses in Reggio Emilia and Modena. Producers typically receive 60% to 80% of a wheel's value upfront.

But the process has come a long way from the 1950s, as blockchain technology now lets farmers pledge wheels even while the cheese stays in their own facilities, doubling Credem's lending capacity. The arrangement solves a real problem: Parmigiano needs at least 12 months to age, often 24 or 36, and small family farms can't easily keep that much inventory tied up for that long without generating some cash. So the bank provides some before any sales are made.

The scale of that arrangement is bigger than the vault itself. Italy produces about 4 million wheels of Parmigiano Reggiano a year, and the cheese banks hold about 500,000 of them, Giancarlo Ravanetti, who runs the bank's cheese warehouse business, told CNN. His warehouses handle about 2.3 million wheels a year in total.

Meanwhile, Parmigiano Reggiano is a 4 billion euro ($4.7 billion) industry sustained by roughly 300 certified dairies, and keeping that much cheese at the right temperature has gotten more expensive. Thanks to this year's record heat waves in Europe, daily energy consumption rose about 30%, forcing the bank to upgrade cooling systems and boilers, add insulation, and expand renewable power generation.

Climate change is affecting dairy farmers' milk supply as well. Because it's so hot outside, cows lie down more and eat less, reducing milk production by up to 10% a year. As longer and more intense heat events become all the more common, they hit both the quantity and quality of milk, ultimately driving up costs.

Climate change hits the vineyard
The same climate pressure is showing up on a similar timeline in Italy's vineyards. In Lombardy's Franciacorta sparkling-wine region, the 2026 harvest began July 30, the earliest start on record, after budbreak came more than a week ahead of the historical average. In Sicily, the harvest hasstretched into what growers describe as a 100-day picking season across the island's microclimates, as producers time each variety's picking to stay ahead of the heat.

--tg