Swiss cheese production was strictly controlled by a massive government-backed cartel known as the Swiss Cheese Union from the First World War all the way until the late 1990s.

A closer look

Swiss cheese production was strictly controlled by a massive government-backed cartel known as the Swiss Cheese Union from the First World War all the way until the late 1990s. This shadow organization violently mandated exactly what types of cheese could be produced, fixed the prices globally, and even ran aggressive propaganda campaigns to convince the world that fondue was the national dish of Switzerland just to sell off excess Gruyère. If you ever wondered why European dairy markets seem so refined, it is largely because a group of powerful men spent decades operating a ruthless mafia-style syndicate that exclusively dealt in fermented cow milk. Truly, no sector of the global economy is safe from rampant institutional corruption