Cheese (global market)

2023: Edible microchips to protect Parmesan from fakes

Parmesan cheese makers are among those looking for new ways to protect their billion-dollar markets from fakes. Their latest ploy to beat the forger is edible microchips.

The new microchip will help combat food adulteration through blockchain tracking and real-time inventory control.

A grain of sand-sized microtransfit is placed on a food-safe casein label next to QR codes. When scanned with a laser reader, it produces a unique serial identifier that allows you to verify the authenticity of the Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese circle.

2019: Biggest exporting and importing countries for cheese

The largest 15 cheese exporting countries in 2019.

1. Germany: $4.6 billion (14.2% of total cheese exports).

2. Netherlands: $4.2 billion (12.9%)

3. Italy: $3.6 billion (11.1%)

4. France: $3.5 billion (10.9%)

5. Denmark: $1.62 billion (5%)

6. US: $1.57 billion (4.9%)

7. New Zealand: $1.3bn (4.1%)

8. Ireland: $1.2bn (3.6%)

9. Belgium: $1.1 billion (3.3%)

10. Belarus: $956.2 million (3%)

11. UK: $903.8m (2.8%)

12. Poland: $889.7 million (2.8%)

13. Austria: $708.4 million (2.2%)

14. Australia: $688.2m (2.1%)

15. Switzerland: $644.4 million (2%)

The listed 15 countries sent 85% of global cheese exports in 2019 in value terms.

Among the biggest exporters, the fastest growing cheese exporters since 2015 were:

• Belarus (an increase of 49.7%),
• Ireland (up 48.9%),
• Italy (up 42.5%) and
• Poland (up 36.8%).

The following countries showed the highest net cheese imports during 2019. The statistics below represent the shortfall between the cost of imported cheese purchases by each country and its exports for the same commodity.

1. Japan: -1.3 billion US dollars (net export deficit up 25.9% since 2015).

2. UK: - $1.3 billion (-0.2%)

3. Russia: - $1.1 billion (up 63%)

4. Spain: - $640.8 million (up 30.8%)

5. Sweden: - $600.7 million (up 25.4%)

6. South Korea: $ -551.4 million (up 10.5%)

7. China: - $521.1 million (up 50.2%)

8. Belgium: - $480.1 million (up 15.7%)

9. Mexico: - $470.7 million (-2.8%)

10. Saudi Arabia: - $340.1 million (up 3%)

11. UAE: $ -276.3 million (-6.9%)

12. Romania: - $260 million (up 131.1%)

13. Finland: - $250.4 million (up 1.9%)

14. Canada: - $248.8 million (up 30.7%)

15. Portugal: - $209.5 million (up 59.2%)

Russia had a high deficit in international cheese trade. In turn, this negative cash flow highlights Russia's competitive shortcomings for this particular product category, and also points to opportunities for cheese supplying countries that help meet high demand from Russian consumers.