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Parmigiano Reggiano makers embedding tiny trackers in rind to fight cheese fraud

foodandwine.com

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Re: Parmigiano Reggiano makers embedding tiny trackers in rind to fight cheese fraud

#91

Post by 0des »

hkt wrote: post #84
pacbard wrote: post #15

I'm curious to know which cheesemakers are using these chips. If you look at a wheel of Parmigiano (a whole one), you will see a number stamped on it. That's the cheesemaker's matriculation number in the consortium. There are 313 active ones right now. Some of them are very big (especially the ones in the lowlands) and some of them are very small (mostly the ones up in the hills). The small cheesemakers have trouble…

I love the fact about them being coops and having the ability to borrow with their cheese as collateral. It is so old world and so wholesome. I'd like to borrow against my cheese one day.

What type of cheese do you make?

Re: Parmigiano Reggiano makers embedding tiny trackers in rind to fight cheese fraud

#93

Post by AdmiralAsshat »

heartbreak wrote: post #89
AdmiralAsshat wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The weird thing is, I don't see that much of a price difference between high-end "domestic" parmesan cheeses and the proper Parmigiano-Reggiano. The Saravecchio Parmesan (that's the Wisconsin domestic you're referring to, I assume) is about $17.99/lb, and the real, imported stuff is about $20/lb--even cheaper at places like Costco. So why not just get the real thing?

Where are you buying your Wisconsin cheese for that much? I’m in the southeast and at Publix I can buy a wedge of Wisconsin Parmesan for half the price of the Italian Parmesan.

Just using the brand in question:

https://www.target.com/p/sartori-sarvecchio-parmesan-cheese-...

https://www.wisconsincheesemart.com/products/parmesan-sarvec...

The price is about $7, but you'll notice it's only about 1/3 of a pound, so the per-pound price is $20-21. Which, again, tracks with what I've been saying. The only difference is you might be forced to buy a pound of the real stuff when you get a wedge of Parmigiano Reggiano, so there's a bigger upfront cost, but you'll definitely go through the stuff. It's delicious grated, it's delicious on its own, and it freezes well.

Re: Parmigiano Reggiano makers embedding tiny trackers in rind to fight cheese fraud

#94

Post by Xylakant »

bsimpson wrote: post #88
jihadjihad wrote: post #25

OT, but I just have to say, as someone who buys "Parmesan" cheese that typically hails from Wisconsin, there is just no comparison with legit Parmigiano-Reggiano. It's the same with "Gruyere" and Gruyère -- a wholly unique cheese with a depth of flavor and character that is just inimitable, no matter how good or faithful the imitation may be. That being said, I'm not ashamed at all to say that the Parmesan I use most…

I'm surprised that cheese imported from America is cheaper than Italian cheese. (I'm presuming you're in the EU, based on your Aldi comment.)

Aldi does have a significant US presence https://www.aldi.us/stores/

Re: Parmigiano Reggiano makers embedding tiny trackers in rind to fight cheese fraud

#95

Post by 0des »

stephenhuey wrote: post #49
mmanfrin wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are free to buy or produce a hard dry sheep's cheese that isn't made in Emilia-Romagna. The name 'Parmesan' is a portmanteau of parts of the region (Parma, Reggio Emilia). The name is the region so saying 'only thing made here can have *the name of the region*' is absolutely not "silly protectionism".

Exactly. Nuances in the region such as grass and soil can affect the final flavor of the cheese. In the same way, chocolate from Mozambique is very unique, and I expect when a bag of coffee says Ethiopia or Costa Rica on it, it really ought to be from that places. The places grown truly affect the flavor for single-origin products, but it won’t matter so much if you’re consuming cocoa or coffee that’s blandly mixed t…

terroir

Re: Parmigiano Reggiano makers embedding tiny trackers in rind to fight cheese fraud

#97

Post by throwaway0a5e »

pacbard wrote: post #15

I'm curious to know which cheesemakers are using these chips. If you look at a wheel of Parmigiano (a whole one), you will see a number stamped on it. That's the cheesemaker's matriculation number in the consortium. There are 313 active ones right now. Some of them are very big (especially the ones in the lowlands) and some of them are very small (mostly the ones up in the hills). The small cheesemakers have trouble…

>The small cheesemakers have trouble selling their current stock, so I doubt that they are putting tracking chips in their wheels.

That gives me trucking e-log vibes. The few big players who are already doing "the thing" use their control of the industry to force it on everyone else because it handicaps everyone who is at a scale that's too small for "the thing" to be cost effective.

Re: Parmigiano Reggiano makers embedding tiny trackers in rind to fight cheese fraud

#98

Post by robonerd »

mmanfrin wrote: post #31
rocqua wrote: post #22

I am all for trademarks. But 'only things made here can have this name' is silly protectionism. Adding electronics to 'fix fraud' really is just worsening the original product. If this goes through I would prefer the fraudulent stuff over the real deal.

You are free to buy or produce a hard dry sheep's cheese that isn't made in Emilia-Romagna. The name 'Parmesan' is a portmanteau of parts of the region (Parma, Reggio Emilia). The name is the region so saying 'only thing made here can have *the name of the region*' is absolutely not "silly protectionism".

The American government has little interest in protecting the word 'Parmesan' itself; firstly because doing so would be inconvenient to American cheesemakers^, and secondly, because Americans don't speak Italian anyway and don't perceive an implication of "From Parma" from the word "Parmesan", even if such an implication is obvious to those who do know Italian.

^ Just as European cheese regulations protect European cheese interests, so do American cheese regulations protect American cheese interests.

Re: Parmigiano Reggiano makers embedding tiny trackers in rind to fight cheese fraud

#99

Post by denton-scratch »

qalmakka wrote: post #83
denton-scratch wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> a wholly unique cheese Not unique - there's a cheese-shop up the road that sells a mature Gruyère that is quite different from their standard-price Gruyère, which in turn is quite unlike supermarket Gruyère. And that's all on the Swiss side of the border - Comté is the same stuff, but made 100 metres away.

Comté tastes similar, but it's still different than Gruyère IMHO.

Until 1976, I had never heard of Comté; they sold that cheese as Gruyére, even though it was made in France. In that year, the AOC regulations came fully into force, and it became illegal to sell cheese made in France as Gruyére.

There are many regional variations and qualities of Comté, too.

When De Gaulle asked "How can you govern a country with 200 different cheeses", he was underestimating badly.

Re: Parmigiano Reggiano makers embedding tiny trackers in rind to fight cheese fraud

#100

Post by brewdad »

AdmiralAsshat wrote: post #93
heartbreak wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where are you buying your Wisconsin cheese for that much? I’m in the southeast and at Publix I can buy a wedge of Wisconsin Parmesan for half the price of the Italian Parmesan.

Just using the brand in question: https://www.target.com/p/sartori-sarvecchio-parmesan-cheese-... https://www.wisconsincheesemart.com/products/parmesan-sarvec... The price is about $7, but you'll notice it's only about 1/3 of a pound, so the per-pound price is $20-21. Which, again, tracks with what I've been saying. The only difference is you might be forced to buy a pound of the real stuff when you get a wedge of Pa…

I just checked. The real stuff from my local Costco cost me $13.99/lb. At that price, there's no good reason for me to buy anything else.
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