A week-long strike by lorry drivers in southern Italy has stopped production of buffalo mozzarella around Naples, 1News reports, citing the Associated Press. Drivers are protesting about diesel prices, which have risen because of the Iran war, and the blockade has also left supermarkets short of goods and many petrol stations dry.
Pier Maria Saccani, director of the consortium that protects the cheese's designation of origin, said no mozzarella was made on Thursday, with about a million litres of buffalo milk unable to reach dairies. He put the loss at around €3m in a single day.
The cheese is especially exposed because buffaloes must be milked every day and the rules require the milk to be made into mozzarella within 60 hours. Several dairies have closed. The government has approved tax relief for hauliers, but it is not yet clear whether that will end the protest.
Source: 1News
