A $200 million bank in Northern Italy is backed by Parmesan cheese. Credito Emiliano holds around 430,000 wheels of Parmesan worth roughly $200 million — treating it like gold. Because real Parmesan takes two to three years to age, farmers are left sitting on valuable inventory they can’t yet sell while still needing cash to run their businesses. So the bank lends against the young cheese, providing up to 80% of its value upfront. The wheels are stored in secure vaults during the loan period. If a farmer defaults, the bank simply sells the fully aged cheese.