It’s hard to imagine a life without cheese in it. However, soon we may be devoid of an existence without creamy camembert, as a result of the cheese threatening to become extinct.

According to Bloomberg, Camembert de Normandie – the cheese in its truest form – is becoming increasingly rare to find. This is a cheese that is PDO approved – a French label that signifies it is made in a historically accurate way from a specific region in France. Of the 360 million wheels of camembert produced in France annually, only four million are considered true Camembert de Normandie, and that number is dropping.

As for why the cheese is increasingly hard to come by, it comes down to how expensive it is to make, as well as its particularly pedantic process. PDO Camembert de Normandie must be made with raw milk with a fat content of 38 percent at minimum. The cows must come from France’s northern Normandy district and fed only grass and hay from local pastures. The milk used must be hand-ladled in four or more layers and transported no further in distance than the cows can physically move themselves in search of fresh grass.

All of this time and effort (and price) has meant that a growing number of traditional cheesemakers have turned away from raw milk to pasteurised milk, thereby forfeiting their right to call their cheese Camembert de Normandie. The laws governing the use of raw milk are also changing, meaning that the three key makers of this crème de la crème of camembert (companies La Ferme du Champsecret, Domaine de Saint Loup, and Fromagerie Durand) may soon cease to exist.

It might be time to stock up at the supermarket.