As someone who buys and enjoys the Costco Parmiagiano-Reggiano (PR) and who has eaten both it and the green can version in the last couple of weeks, I think it'

As someone who buys and enjoys the Costco Parmiagiano-Reggiano (PR) and who has eaten both it and the green can version in the last couple of weeks, I think it's a shame that people would be misled into thinking the green can version is anything like Parmesan cheese. PR has rich umami flavor that as someone who grew up on the green can kind, I can only feel a bit ripped off by what I was missing all those years. PDO can be problematic, especially when there is terroir which can only be used by a limited number of companies who are granted the mark. It's still a mark I look for, now that I know better. In many ways it acts the same as trademark, ensuring that the purchaser gets the real article. There's no reason to believe that the best example of a product comes with a PDO, but it is at least a very high minimum standard.