Cheese making is part of the heart and soul of a proud Greek food tradition. This is not only true of feta cheese but other kinds too, such as the soft and delicate Graviera, the intense Kefalotiri, and spicy Nostrou. They made a lasting impression on us from the moment we met dairy cheese makers, Dimitris Pappas and his wife. They and their company are based in the Pindos Mountains, one of Greece’s most naturally diverse nature parks. Dimitris’ family is not located there by chance, since for three generations they have followed in the footsteps of the legendary nomadic Vlachs, who for a thousand years have been using the excellent natural resources to produce the finest sheep and goat milk and cheese.
So Dimitris’ dairy company, Skarfi, we rebranded Vlachian Mountains Artisanal Cheeses and in so doing a brand was created fitting of their uncompromising quality. To build the brand image further we employed a coat-of-arms logo with a shepherd’s crook crossed with a sword at its heart; a pointer to the region’s cross pen and sword coat-of-arms - the crook to symbolise their intimacy with sheep and goat nurturing and the sword a reference to times when freedom from oppressors meant taking up arms. This was then incorporated into the visual identity of each cheese product leading to a very readable visual system with a central name bar and then using colour and secondary graphical elements to distinguish each of the 9 cheeses .
The new branding system has been launched and is making its way across Europe and the USA as a worthy accompaniment to these fine artisanal cheeses that represent and enforce the growing reputation that Greek cheese is gaining.
