Cheesy by name, cheesy by nature

Flavio Donati and Flavia Spena set up ViaVio Cheese at the end of 2016. After five years, the artisanal cheese business has grown into a premium cheesemaker supplying restaurants and retail outlets around New Zealand with a range of stunning, awardwinning handcrafted cheeses.

Getting to this stage was a long and winding road for this couple, who were introduced to New Zealand way back in 1993, when Flavio came and played rugby here and his Benetton team in Treviso, Italy was being coached by former All Blacks coach Wayne Smith.

Flavio and Flavia are both from Rome, and are passionate about good food and rugby.

Flavia had spent 25 years as a top executive and chief financial officer for international jewellery company Bulgari, while Flavio was a professional rugby player.

‘‘Because of rugby, we had been coming to New Zealand a lot. We have lots of friends here, and when we came for the [World Cup] in 2011, we started thinking that we would like to create a new life in New Zealand,’’ Flavio said.

When they visited Nelson in 2014, former mayor Aldo Miccio put them in touch with Julian Raine from Oakland’s Milk, which was to provide the A2 milk to a little mozzarella cheese factory being set up by two Italians.

‘‘Shortly after this, the two Italians contacted us, asking if we would be interested in purchasing the cheese factory,’’ Flavio said.

‘‘We really liked Nelson, but what we missed the most here was cheese, so we thought it would be nice to make Italianstyle cheeses using wonderful New Zealand milk.

‘‘We thought that, by chance, we had found the opportunity to set up our business in a nice place and with a great milk supply. We decided to do it.’’

The couple were excited by the potential of the tiny operation, but they knew that their project had to start by creating a new brand and expanding the product range.

Realising that New Zealand had no artisan cheese brand in the international market, they wanted to create a brand that reflected their Italian heritage together with a New Zealand touch that would eventually work in the export market.

‘‘Export is still a way off for us, but the brand is important so we can grow,’’ Flavio said.

‘‘This is how ViaVio was born, the combination of both our names in a traditional design with the four stars of the New Zealand flag.

‘‘With Italy having more than 1000 different types of cheeses, we found the variety in New Zealand very limited, but the quality of the milk is exceptional,’’ he said.

So the couple bravely decided to introduce some of these traditional Italian cheese styles to the New Zealand market.

The opportunity to collaborate with Oaklands Farm to source a supply of fully traceable, quality local A2-tested cow’s milk was instrumental to the new brand, Flavio said.

‘‘We started from zero and had to learn everything about cheesemaking, complying with New Zealand regulations and, more important, New Zealand consumers’ taste and habits.

‘‘It’s quite different to how things work in Italy, both in the regulations around cheesemaking and the culture of eating cheese.

‘‘In Italy, people buy quality, fresh cheeses every day. Italians eat many fresh cheeses like mozzarella, stracchino or ricotta. They buy today and eat today.

‘‘Here, everyone looks for shelf life – how long will it last? Cheese is a living product, and keeps changing – therefore, even if it lasts, the flavour will not be the same, so we say buy it and eat it fresh!’’

The second big difference between cheese consumption in New Zealand and Italy is that cheese can be the main protein in an Italian meal. ‘‘Fresh mozzarella is rich in calcium and is very healthy, so should be eaten with salads or any vegetable as the protein instead of fish and meat,’’ Flavia said.

So why are ViaVio’s fresh cheeses so good compared to other brands on the supermarket shelves?

Firstly, they have employed a highly skilled Italian cheese master who has more than 25 years’ experience.

‘‘Nicola has making cheese since he was 15. He studied as a cheese maker for five years, and managed a family cheese business for many years, so he understands the business as well,’’ Flavia said.

The other key thing that makes ViaVio fresh cheeses so good is that they are made using a natural culture. Those made as a commodity use citric acid to create the initial curd.

Flavia also told me that most of the imported mozzarella you can buy in tubs of liquid is actually frozen, shipped to New Zealand and thawed here.

‘‘We make a natural product, but we find there is general lack of education in food knowledge in New Zealand. People are very trusting, and don’t always find out exactly where their food comes from and how it’s made.

‘‘In Europe, there were many food scares years ago, so people make sure they know what they are eating. We think supermarkets and other retailers should put clear information about provenance, in order to better guide consumers in making their choices.

‘‘The milk in New Zealand is so good that there shouldn’t be a need to import frozen cheeses.’’

ViaVio has an impressive number of premium NZ Cheese and NZ Outstanding Food Producer Awards for the cheeses and the yoghurt the company produces.

‘‘There have been a lot of obstacles, but we look back and, after a few years, we have moved to a new country, started making a product we had never made before, and created a business, so we have done quite a bit,’’ Flavia said.

‘‘We also want to be part of the new food movement in New Zealand to buy locally made, excellent product using premium ingredients.’’

The vision Flavia and Flavio had for high-quality, Italian-style cheeses made with traditional Italian know-how and the very best natural local New Zealand ingredients has come to fruition – with no added preservatives, for all like-minded discerning foodies. Find out more at viavio.co.nz.

‘‘We thought it would be nice to make Italian-style cheeses using wonderful New Zealand milk . . . We started from zero and had to learn everything.’’

Flavio Donati, ViaVio Cheese