# Spiralling costs could take Greek graviera cheese off the menu Author: Pal Sinha, Barnali Author URL: https://financedigest.com/author/pal-sinha-barnali Published: 2022-05-19 Category: NEWS Category URL: https://financedigest.com/category/news Meta Title: Naxos Cheese Crisis: Threat to PDO Graviera Production Meta Description: Discover how soaring prices and animal feed shortages on Naxos, Greece are endangering the local production of the famous PDO graviera cheese. URL: https://financedigest.com/spiralling-costs-could-take-greek-graviera-cheese-off-the-menuhtml ![undefined](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cm5qst7v3003gwirgwqtxn8i8/images/2022-05-19t154311z1lynxnpei4i0r6rtroptp4ukraine-crisis-greece-naxos-cheese-1736815709183-compressed.jpg) By Karolina Tagaris and Vassilis Triandafyllou NAXOS, Greece (Reuters) – In a small factory on the Greek island of Naxos, workers are busy churning out its famous graviera cheese. At least, they are for now. A [crisis unfolding](https://www.financedigest.com/how-the-2023-banking-crisis-unfolded.html "How the 2023 banking crisis unfolded") on the island’s farms is sparking fears that the locally-produced pale yellow wheels may soon start to disappear from the cheese counter. Standing among his cows in the scorching May sun, dairy farmer Stelios Zevlis [says soaring prices](https://www.financedigest.com/uk-house-prices-stabilise-after-four-month-fall-halifax-says.html "UK house prices stabilise after four-month fall, Halifax says") of everything, driven by the war in Ukraine, have made feeding his animals unaffordable, forcing him to slaughter those too malnourished to produce enough milk. Feed prices have tripled, fuel, [fertilizer and electricity prices](https://www.financedigest.com/no-poop-for-you-manure-supplies-run-short-as-fertilizer-prices-soar.html "No poop for you: Manure supplies run short as fertilizer prices soar") have doubled. These animals are putting us in the red right now,” he said. “If the state doesn’t help us there will be nothing left. The livestock will be gone.” Local authorities [say more than 300 cows and 30,000 goats and sheep on the island have been culled in recent weeks](https://www.financedigest.com/gazprom-says-it-will-not-sell-gas-on-its-spot-platform-this-week.html "Gazprom says it will not sell gas on its spot platform this week"). Compounding farmers’ woes is that Naxian graviera, a hard cheese that takes its name from the Swiss gruyere, boasts the EU-granted status of ‘protected designation of origin’ (PDO). That means it must be made using a combination of only local cow’s, goat’s and sheep’s milk. And as milk quantities dwindle, so does cheese production. Naxos typically produces around 1,250 tons a year of PDO graviera, says Dimitris Kapounis, head of the Union of Agricultural Cooperatives of Naxos (EAS), but he estimates total production could [fall by 30% this year](https://www.financedigest.com/spains-november-retail-sales-fall-0-6-on-year.html "Spain’s November retail sales fall 0.6% on year"). To contain the damage to what he calls “the island’s flagship” product, Kapounis said EAS plans to [limit exports](https://www.financedigest.com/indonesias-palm-oil-export-ban-seen-short-lived-on-limited-storage.html "Indonesia’s palm oil export ban seen short-lived on limited storage") to focus on the Greek market, and to stop producing some other cheeses to preserve local milk for graviera. Naxian graviera is exported to France, Germany, the United States and United Arab Emirates, among other markets. “I never imagined that we would face this situation,” Kapounis said. The state [needs to wake up and support](https://www.financedigest.com/hung-out-to-dry-smes-need-further-support-to-stay-afloat.html "Hung Out to Dry: SMEs need further support to stay afloat") the stock breeders. We are disappointed, we are desperate.” A [ship docked in the island’s port](https://www.financedigest.com/turkey-says-five-more-grain-ships-leave-ukrainian-ports.html "Turkey says five more grain ships leave Ukrainian ports") this week brought animal fodder imports from Bulgaria, to meet a shortage of feed on Naxos following mainly weather-driven shortages of local feed production. But even that is little relief for the farmers, as high transport costs have driven up the [price of imported feed to 230 euros](https://www.financedigest.com/carrefour-unveils-30-euro-shopping-basket-in-spain-after-government-price-cut-proposal.html "Carrefour unveils 30 euro shopping basket in Spain after government price cut proposal") ($243.29) a ton, from 70 euros last year, Kapounis said. Farmers across Greece as well as on Naxos, where farming accounts for more than half of economic activity, are demanding more [subsidies and tax cuts](https://www.financedigest.com/ecb-raises-interest-rates-again-cuts-bank-subsidies.html "ECB raises interest rates again, cuts bank subsidies") to tackle the crisis. “We haven’t got other options,” said Yiannis Baboulas, a fourth-generation stock-breeder. We’re already leaving other obligations unpaid in [order to keep](https://www.financedigest.com/keep-your-head-in-the-cloud-improving-the-order-to-cash-process.html "Keep your head in the cloud: improving the order-to-cash process") the livestock. How much longer can we do this for? One, two months?” he said. Some farmers have had to kill their entire herd because they could no longer afford to look after it, he said. The war in Ukraine and severe droughts in some parts of the [world have sent global](https://www.financedigest.com/analysis-at-world-cup-saudi-crown-prince-moves-back-on-to-global-stage.html "Analysis-At World Cup, Saudi crown prince moves back on to global stage") prices for grains, cooking oils, fuel and fertilizer soaring. In Greece, [inflation surged](https://www.financedigest.com/boes-bailey-speaks-about-surging-inflation-and-rate-hikes.html "BoE’s Bailey speaks about surging inflation and rate hikes") to 10.2% in April, its highest level in 28 years. Marina Gratsia, an agriculturalist responsible for animal feed production at EAS, said the [knock-on effect](https://www.financedigest.com/banking-turmoil-will-not-have-knock-on-effect-on-commodities-trafigura-cfo.html "Banking turmoil will not have knock-on effect on commodities -Trafigura CFO") from the war was unlikely to go away soon. Even if the war ends tomorrow morning, and we all hope it does, the consequences will persist for at least another a [year and a half,”](https://www.financedigest.com/an-apple-a-year-half-of-iphone-users-will-upgrade-to-the-iphone-7.html "AN APPLE A YEAR: HALF OF IPHONE USERS WILL UPGRADE TO THE IPHONE 7") she said. Back in his farm, Zevlis, the dairy farmer, agrees. “If something doesn’t change, the future will be very grim. There won’t be a future.” ($1 = 0.9454 euros) (Reporting by Karolina Tagaris and Vassilis Trianafyllou; Editing by Susan Fenton) --- This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more. ---