Parmesan Cheese as Collateral

If you run a small business, you know how difficult it can be sometimes to get cash. It can even be difficult to get a business loan from a bank — especially right now. But what if you had collateral that the bank would accept? Something like…parmesan cheese.

Apparently, in Italy, it is perfectly acceptable to bring a big wheel of parmesan  down to Credito Emiliano. This is a bank in southeastern Milan, in the Emilia-Romagna region. According to LA Weekly, the bank has been accepting parmesan as collateral for cheese makers since 1953. The cheese is stored in a special climate-controlled warehouse and is managed by a separate unit. Even thieves have tried to take some of the cheese.

Financial transactions based on cheese date back to the Middle Ages. As one of the region’s most valuable and sought-after exports, parmesan cheese has long been considered something akin to money. Indeed, in some circles it apparently is money.

Image source: Jon Sullivan via Wikimedia Commons