"Tenuta Vannulo," Landscape of Mozzarella Cheese & Water Buffalo Farm, Southern Italy

There is something quaint and attractive about visiting a local farm as part of traveling. It is always curious to see how local resources are presented as assets for tourists to enjoy and consume.

via Google Maps

Trajectory at Tenuta Vannulo © mintvilla

Tenuta Vannulo is a water buffalo farm located in Capaccio Paestum, managed by 3 generations of the family and providing fresh mozzarella cheese to the local restaurants and eateries. The family has been expanding its farm with its ‘glocal’ tourist popularity. Mozzarella cheese is a type of commodity that you can only see as a final product at a market but at this farm, you get to experience the whole cheese making process.


As you enter the property, you get to see dark brown water buffalos swimming in a pond and running around freely on a green field. Upon arrival, the smell of baked goods and coffee welcomes you into the “Yoghurtry” located next to the entrance. Here you get to taste all the dairy products of the buffalos from gelato, yogurt, latte, cappuccino, and various spreads. These are the initial attractions for visitors to this farm.








Once you come out from the Yoghurtry, you see workers stretching and shaping the soaked curds in their tidy suits. They look out to the window and often show off their special tricks as if performing for an audience. They show off enormous mozzarella chunks to tourists for the first time with great skill and dexterity. The workers certainly know how to put on a show.

The farm owners do not participate in large supply chains and instead choose to focus on local sales and distribution. They preserve their original quality and production philosophy on-site at a scale they can manage. The family’s house is located right within the site. An old majestic villa represents the care and commitment for the farm and its production. The private Italian villa certainly adds a visual layer and tells a story of the whole site.

The Family's Villa

The farm’s system is very reminiscent of Michael Porter’s “Spinoff” strategy when thinking of the varied visitor programs: resources that feed off of each other can make a great asset as a whole. Besides the food production, the family maintains its own Buffalo leather shop, a unique line named “Vannulo” itself that shows the proud craftsmanship of local fashion. You can see the fashion studio and a shop that is located within a museum. The building aspires to be space that is full of modern representations of the farming industry.

Vannulo Leather Studio

Out of the whole complex, the buffalo barn is what the owner is most proud of and the machinery is representative of that pride. DeLaval, the flashy Swedish machine is able to recognize the buffalo’s profile via chip and move to fit the buffalo’s utters automatically to fit the memorized of anatomical variation. There are even shower and massage stations for the prized animals.

Massage Station


DeLaval Miking Machine





Once done with the tour, you can freely walk around the plaza area to relax and enjoy the rural scenery. My second visit here was for a freshman class landscape architecture teaching in 2015 summer. Hope to visit again soon.


10 Minute Sketching Class


Freshman Student Group

Let me know if you ever get to go! Do you have any places like this near you? Share it with me in the comments!

Thanks for reading & Stay tuned for the next story!
@Mintvilla, an ever-learning landscape architect