Strike halts mozzarella production

A weeklong truckers' protest in southern Italy has stopped buffalo mozzarella production. The strike over high diesel costs driven by the Iran war has blocked milk deliveries to dairies and finished cheese to customers.

Three million euros lost in 24 hours

About one million litres of buffalo milk produced on Wednesday could not be turned into mozzarella because of the transport blockade.

“Yesterday, no mozzarella was produced.”

Why the supply chain is so fragile

Buffalo mozzarella production depends on a tightly timed supply chain.Buffaloes must be milked regardless of whether dairies operate, and production rules require milk be turned into mozzarella within 60 hours.

Cascading damage across the industry

Several dairies have closed because they cannot afford to accumulate perishable mozzarella if trucks cannot deliver it.Some farmers have resorted to feeding unused milk to animals.

“It's a very, very complex and delicate situation.”

Government aid approved but outcome unclear

The Italian government led by Premier Giorgia Meloni approved new tax breaks for truckers on Thursday, bringing combined financial aid to truckers and farmers to 540 million euros in tax credits, up from 434 million…