Italian cheese Grana Padano sees growth in 2020 despite pandemic

Italian hard and fine-grained cheese Grana Padano saw growth in production, exports and consumption in 2020 despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Grana Padano was once again the most consumed PDO product in the world, with 5.25 million wheels produced, or 2.2% more than in 2019. Exports Of the total, 2.11 million wheels, or 41%, were exported (+3.4%), with Europe consuming almost 84% of Grana Padano PDO exports (+4.98%). Germany consolidated its position as the leading export market, with a total of 567,028 wheels, up 7.18% compared to the previous year. France was second with 242,586 wheels (+4.74%), followed by the Benelux countries with 166,734 wheels (+3.80%). The US dropped to the fourth position, with 152,667 wheels (-8.91%), due to the effects of tariffs. The UK saw imports up 9.81% with 146,206 wheels. Domestic Consumption In Italy, 2.9 million wheels were sold in 2020 as retail consumption grew by 6.4% and 1.5% in the other channels. At-home consumption compensated for the ...