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Why Real Feta Cheese Is Disappearing | Big Business
Why Real Feta Cheese Is Disappearing | Big Business
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0:00
Greece is the world's biggest producer
0:03
of feta,
0:04
pumping out 154,000
0:07
tons of the cheese in 2025.
0:10
Feta brings in roughly a billion dollars
0:12
a year. It's so valuable for the country
0:15
that it's nicknamed white gold.
0:26
Normally, the family farms that supply
0:28
the industry's milk look like this.
0:35
But now, many are eerily quiet.
0:40
A highly contagious pox outbreak has
0:42
swept through Greece's herds, driving up
0:44
prices of one of the world's most
0:46
popular cheeses.
0:57
And the industry is facing another
0:59
challenge abroad.
1:01
Countries like the US and Turkey are
1:03
selling their own feta, despite Greece's
1:05
legal claim to the name.
1:11
So, what does all this conflict mean for
1:13
Greece's generational cheese producers
1:15
and for that feta on your salad?
1:23
Authentic Greek feta is made with
1:24
sheep's milk, so it's tangier and
1:26
crumblier than cheese from cow's milk.
1:48
Alexandros Spotos is the second
1:49
generation owner of Roussas Dairy, one
1:52
of the top five feta producers in
1:54
Greece.
2:00
>> He started his career as an engineer but
2:02
returned to the family business to
2:03
modernize the cheese making process
2:05
investing 7 million euros in automation.
2:15
Cheese curds used to be cut like this
2:17
all by hand.
2:30
Now large mechanical knives slice the
2:33
curds into smaller pieces.
2:35
The cheese curds are dumped into molds.
2:45
While cheeses like cheddar and parmesan
2:48
are pressed to remove all the way and
2:50
bind the curds, feta drains only under
2:52
its own weight. That gives it the loose
2:55
crumbly texture that allows it to absorb
2:57
liquid from the brine it's stored in.
3:10
That salt will further draw moisture out
3:12
of the cheese.
3:14
There are only a few cheese makers left
3:16
in Greece who age their feta in
3:17
traditional wooden barrels leading to a
3:19
richer less salty flavor.
3:22
The cheese will be aged for 60 days.
3:26
Feta is actually one of the world's
3:28
oldest cheeses. A primitive version of
3:31
it was mentioned in Homer's The Odyssey.
3:34
But it wasn't until the 17th century
3:36
that Greeks began calling it feta
3:38
meaning slice likely because of how it's
3:40
stored in pieces.
3:42
By the 20th century it had become a
3:44
staple food for working class Greeks.
3:47
Then Greeks began immigrating to other
3:49
countries driving demand for feta in new
3:51
markets such as the US, Australia, and
3:54
Germany.
3:55
Soon many countries began making their
3:57
own mass-produced versions of feta. But
3:59
they didn't have robust sheep and goat
4:01
dairies, so they used what they had
4:03
plenty of, cows.
4:06
Cow's milk has less fat and protein than
4:08
sheep's, so feta made with it isn't as
4:11
rich or tangy. But cows were cheap and
4:13
abundant, so their feta was a fraction
4:16
of the cost. And consumers gobbled it
4:18
up. By the 1990s, Mediterranean cuisine
4:21
became a popular fad diet in the US.
4:24
Brands like Athenos and President
4:26
cemented Wisconsin as a feta producing
4:29
behemoth.
4:30
Up against growing competition, Greece
4:32
fought back, arguing that these
4:34
countries' fetas were counterfeit and
4:36
eroded Greek heritage.
4:38
The legal battle over the name went all
4:40
the way to the Court of Justice of the
4:42
European Union in the 1990s.
4:45
Denmark, Germany, and France argued that
4:47
feta had become a generic term, like
4:50
cheddar or brie, and wasn't tied to a
4:52
geographical location.
4:54
It was just a word for a crumbly white
4:56
cheese.
4:57
But their argument failed, and in 2002,
4:59
the EU granted Greece protected
5:01
designation of origin, or PDO.
5:04
Meaning that all feta in Europe had to
5:06
be produced in these regions.
5:10
About 200 cheeses in Europe have the
5:12
same protected status, like Parmigiano
5:14
Reggiano, Brie de Meaux, and Manchego
5:17
cheese.
5:18
>> It's a more very important to protect
5:20
your heritage.
5:22
And also a his- uh centuries of
5:24
knowledge how to produce food.
5:27
That's why we, as Europeans, we are in
5:29
favor of protecting our products.
5:33
>> Anastasios Skouras is the third
5:34
generation in his family to farm in
5:36
Thessaly.
5:38
The region is responsible for about 45%
5:41
of the country's feta.
5:48
Authentic feta has to be made mostly
5:50
from sheep's milk with up to 30% goats.
5:55
The livestock must graze on local flora.
5:58
15% of Greece's plants can't be found
6:01
anywhere else on Earth. They're said to
6:03
give feta its distinctly earthy, peppery
6:05
flavor.
6:12
Since earning protected status in 2002,
6:14
Greece's feta production has jumped 21%.
6:19
But the battle over the crumbly cheese's
6:20
name is far from settled.
6:23
Outside of the EU, countries get to
6:25
decide if they'll honor Greece's PDO for
6:27
feta. And major markets like the US and
6:30
Turkey don't. They allow their domestic
6:33
producers to market their own cheese as
6:35
feta. In 2025, the Trump administration
6:38
negotiated trade deals with Taiwan,
6:40
Malaysia, and Argentina that allowed US
6:43
cheese to use the feta label.
6:46
>> I'm Greek-American, and so I know very
6:49
well how important
6:52
feta is to many people in the US and how
6:55
much they connect it to Greece. This is
6:57
like, you know, our flagship export, I
7:00
think other than olive oil.
7:02
From an economic perspective as well,
7:03
not just culturally, it's it's a really
7:05
important product.
7:08
>> This growing competition is particularly
7:10
tough for feta producers who are already
7:12
facing the worst animal disease in their
7:14
lifetimes. The goat and sheep pox
7:17
outbreak started in 2024.
7:20
Infected sheep can get fevers, red
7:22
spots, and lesions on their lungs.
7:25
Among lambs, it has an 80% mortality
7:28
rate.
7:35
It usually spreads through the air
7:36
between two close animals, but it can
7:39
survive in wool for 2 months.
7:43
Because it spreads so easily, the Greek
7:45
Ministry of Rural Development and Food
7:47
decided that wherever a case appears,
7:50
every animal on the farm, even healthy
7:53
ones, had to be culled, meaning
7:55
slaughtered.
7:59
Yiannis found signs of the disease on
8:01
his sheep in 2025.
8:04
Months later, all of his animals were
8:07
gone.
8:09
Now his farm sits quiet.
8:58
The government promised to pay farmers
9:00
like Yiannis up to $288
9:03
for each purebred animal lost.
9:05
>> There were huge delays, and that even if
9:09
they did come through,
9:11
the amount was not sufficient to, you
9:14
know, make up for the what what the
9:16
farmers were losing.
9:40
>> And Yiannis wasn't alone in losing
9:42
everything.
9:43
More than 2,600 other farms across
9:46
Greece have had to cull their herds.
10:52
Between 2024 and 2025, Greece saw a 17%
10:58
drop in its sheep population.
11:01
Altogether, the government ordered the
11:03
culling of over 488,000
11:06
animals.
11:28
The Greek government also enforced
11:30
strict biosecurity protocols, including
11:32
sanitation stations and vet deployment.
11:37
Anastasios' farm has been under strict
11:39
lockdown despite not recording a single
11:42
case of sheep or goat pox.
11:51
He sprays and disinfects throughout the
11:53
facility.
12:09
The government also mandated that
12:11
animals in afflicted areas were banned
12:13
from leaving their fences to graze
12:15
freely outdoors.
12:17
So, farmers had to feed them commercial
12:19
grain, which goes against the EU's rules
12:21
for feta's PDO.
12:24
9 months after the outbreak, in early
12:26
2025, the European Commission determined
12:29
Greece's efforts hadn't gone far enough.
12:32
It urged the Greek government to launch
12:34
a vaccination campaign.
12:38
>> And Greece is saying,
12:39
"No, thank you."
12:41
>> The Greek government chose not to
12:42
vaccinate livestock because it risked a
12:44
temporary ban on dairy exports under EU
12:47
rules.
12:49
While vaccination can save animals, it
12:51
can make it harder to track the virus.
12:54
And with 65% of its feta sold abroad,
12:56
Greece wasn't willing to take that
12:58
chance.
13:00
>> There is a real trade cost to
13:03
vaccinating.
13:04
>> But studies have shown that in the long
13:06
term, culling can have a greater
13:07
economic damage than vaccines.
13:10
>> Because then you have to wait for years
13:13
to replenish a a herd. It got to a point
13:17
where farmers themselves, who initially
13:20
did not seem very keen to vaccinate,
13:23
were essentially begging Greek
13:24
authorities for the vaccine.
13:29
>> Greek farmers took to the streets to
13:31
protest the lack of vaccination, the
13:33
widespread culling, and delayed payments
13:35
for their lost herds.
13:47
The economic impact of the pox and
13:49
culling can't be overstated. Feta
13:51
production could fall by roughly 11% in
13:54
2026.
14:00
>> Experts warn that compared to last year,
14:02
Greece could produce 30,000 fewer tons
14:04
of milk in 2026.
14:07
>> That could be around 20% lower.
14:11
Yes, there's going to be a shortage, but
14:14
obviously
14:15
the prices are going to rise as well.
14:19
>> By June, wholesale prices for Greek feta
14:21
had already risen to over $11 a kilo.
14:26
>> Around 33%
14:28
year-on-year compared to the same period
14:31
in 2025.
14:51
>> Katerina Katsouley has owned Kriti, a
14:53
restaurant in Athens, since 1988.
15:08
>> She normally sources her feta from the
15:10
island of Lesbos.
15:19
>> She was forced to find new suppliers,
15:21
which drove up her costs, an increase
15:23
she's largely absorbed rather than
15:25
passing on to customers.
15:53
She still serves feta in baked zucchini
15:55
and saganaki, an appetizer of pan-fried
15:58
cheese.
16:17
>> This could happen more in the food
16:18
service sector, but probably they are
16:20
using cheaper alternatives. A
16:23
particularly now with the cow's milk is
16:25
significantly cheaper compared to feta
16:28
prices.
16:29
>> Lately, the sheep and goat pox infection
16:31
rates have slowed dramatically in
16:33
Greece.
16:34
The number went from 1,700 outbreaks in
16:36
2025 to 131 in the first 4 months of
16:40
2026.
16:42
But some experts like Lydia are
16:43
skeptical that conditions are improving.
16:46
>> Frankly, I don't know that it's working
16:48
and I don't necessarily
16:52
trust the official figures.
17:08
>> Experts say the damage may outlast the
17:11
outbreak itself.
17:13
The sheep that were culled have been
17:14
bred for generations. Their milk was a
17:16
key ingredient in the distinctive flavor
17:19
of authentic Greek feta.
17:20
>> And not only do you lose generations of
17:23
that work, but you lose, the identity of
17:28
families, of villages, and of regions.
17:31
Suddenly, overnight, you have thousands
17:35
of farms that have been put out of
17:37
operation because of this disease.
17:40
>> It raises the question, will other
17:42
countries move in with their own feta to
17:45
fill the gap Greece has left behind?
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