It may sound incredible, but as early as 1953, a regional Italian bank began to receive an unusual guarantee for small business loans: giant parmesan cheese pies - Parmigiano Reggiano - writes Politika. Parmesan pies are stored in air-conditioned vaults until the small producers repay the loan.

As they explained to the Italian media in this bank, for some it may be absurd, but for them it also makes sense because that quality product lasts a long time, and its price only increases over time. This is said to be extremely significant for hardworking dairy farmers in the Emilia Romagna region of northern Italy.

As Forbes reported back in 2015, in addition to keeping the cheese as collateral for the loan, the bank keeps the cheese in special air-conditioned vaults for the duration of the loan. At the same time, manufacturers save on operating costs, and the bank benefits from gaining some knowledge of this risky industry.

Parmesan is a hard, grainy cow's milk cheese with a strong flavor. It is aged for at least 12 months and sometimes up to 36 years. According to strict production laws, the name Parmigiano Reggiano refers to a specific type of Parmesan cheese produced in Italy under strict production laws. This cheese originates from the city of Parma, after which it got its name. Since 1996, according to Italian laws, it has been granted the status of a protected geographical indication of the European Union.

The value of a 36-kilogram pie of cheese is roughly between $900 and $1.500, which explains why the bank has been interested in lending to producers in this way all these years. But they point out that it was not always that simple and that there were many unforeseen situations as well as investments from both sides.

Italian Parmesan is one of the most famous cheeses in the world, which also leads to numerous counterfeits. Last year, manufacturers announced that they had found a new way to protect their product. The Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium Association said it has started microchips in the declaration as a way to fight competition.

As the media reported, under special protection determined by the European Union, Parmigiano Reggiano is the only type of cheese in Europe that can be called parmesan and must be produced in the north of Italy.

The association hopes to protect its brand with the new technology. The microchips are about the size of a grain of salt and are inserted into the labels found on the cheese rind. The chips can be scanned with a food QR code.

The president of the association, Nicola Bertinelli, said that thanks to the security digital labels on cheese pies, now producers can guarantee quality for consumers.

- Since its foundation in 1934, our association has tried to protect its product from competition that places similar products on the market, and does not meet our strict criteria related to the method of production and origin - said Bertinelli.