Where there’s a will there’s a whey: cheese producers lean into their craft as Trump tariffs bite

Europeans put their faith in centuries-old, all-natural production to maintain US custom

Giuseppe Alai wanders through the cellar of his dairy in Emilia-Romagna, the air filled with the smell of ageing wheels of parmesan lined up in endless rows.

Pointing towards the thick rinds wrapped around them, each bearing the distinct dotted engraving of their Parmigiano Reggiano mark of origin, he recalls an anecdote from his grandfather at the end of the second world war.

“When the American soldiers arrived in 1945 [to liberate the area from the Nazis], they gave the children lots of chocolate and in return, my grandfather gave them pieces of cheese,” said Alai. “When he explained that it was made without additives or preservatives, they couldn’t believe it – they thought it was impossible.”

A wheel of parmigiano reggiano.