How organized crime exploits the dairy industry

A daring heist in the United Kingdom in October put the profitable but risky world of luxury cheese in the spotlight. In the incident dubbed the “rust cheese heist”, 22 tonnes of premium British cheese disappeared after a fraudulent order was placed under the guise of a French supermarket chain. The stolen consignment worth over 300,000 pounds (approximately Rs 3.26 million) included specialty cheeses from farms in Somerset, including Hafod, a rare cheddar aged for 18 months.

Patrick Holden, the dairy farmer behind Hafod, was initially excited about what he said was the largest contract his farm had ever received. “It was the biggest order for our cheese we’ve ever received,” Holden told the BBC, adding: “And because it came from France, I thought, ‘Finally people on the continent appreciate what we do’. “

His excitement faded when the order turned out to be fraudulent and the cheese disappeared after being picked up by a courier. At the end of October, a 63-year-old man was arrested in London and was later released on bail. Since then, there have been no updates and the 950 carts of cheese – about the weight of four full-grown elephants – disappeared without a trace.

The stolen cheese, including hafod worth ₹35,000 (around Rs 38.13 lakh), was processed by Neal’s Yard Dairy, an upscale London wholesaler. The heist shocked the cheese industry, which the criminals had targeted due to the rising value of luxury dairy products.

Although the scale of the cheese theft was extraordinary, it is part of a broader increase in food crime that is costing the global food industry billions each year. Cheese, especially high-quality varieties, has become an attractive target for organized criminals. From smuggling and counterfeiting to outright theft, food crime has increased, with some gangs specializing in theft of valuable products such as Parmigiano Reggiano and Cheddar.

“Cheese making is an energy-intensive business,” the BBC quoted Patrick McGuigan, a specialist in the dairy sector, as saying. “There was a sharp rise in prices following the disruption caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” McGuigan added. The economic impact of the war and ongoing inflation have made cheese increasingly more expensive and increased demand from criminals looking to profit from this lucrative market.

Notably, the price of cheese in the UK has been rising recently, with some varieties seeing price increases of up to 6.5% in 2024 alone. “Based on price alone, cheese is one of the most desirable foods a criminal can steal,” McGuigan said.

The theft of luxury cheese isn’t just about high prices. Food is also attractive to criminal networks. Andy Quinn, from the National Food Crime Unit (NFCU), said: “They (criminals) know that food-related crimes result in less serious convictions than importing drugs, but they can still make a similar amount of money.” This is particularly true when it comes to premium cheese.

The black market for stolen cheese is global. In 2016, £80,000 worth of Parmigiano Reggiano was stolen in Italy.

“Cheese and wine are two of the most frequently illegally transported products into Russia,” says Professor Chris Elliott, founder of the Global Institute for Food Security.

The Parmigiano-Reggiano consortium is fighting the theft of its prized cheese on the black market by embedding tiny tracking chips in the rind. These chips, no larger than a grain of rice, contain unique digital IDs to verify authenticity and track stolen cheese. Shoppers can scan the cheese to verify its authenticity, although the consortium has not yet released data on the impact of this technology on fraud.