Grana Padano cheese brings comfort in Covid times

Some cheese a day keeps the coronavirus away? Grana Padano continues to grow this year, despite the closure of the restaurants in many countries. Worldwide demand increased by 3.7%.

Back to the classics

Despite the health crisis and lower consumption in the restaurant and catering sector as a result, the protected Grana Padano cheese continues to grow. The most consumed PDO (protected designation of origin) product in the world saw consumption increase by 3.7% last year. Production increased by 2%, the Grana Padano protection consortium announced at its annual general meeting. 

Between January and November, demand increased mainly on the Italian domestic market (+7.1%), but sales in Germany – the main foreign market accounting for 27% of all exports – increased by 7% as well, thanks to strong retail sales. Switzerland (+8%), Belgium (+6%) and France (+5%) also performed well.

It is striking that retail sales were able to compensate for the disappearance of the hospitality sector, as a result of which the cheese-makers managed to close the year positively. According to various research reports, the reason for this sales boost is that, in times of crisis, consumers return to well-known products they trust.