What if mozzarella could be eaten like a pasta dish?

Galbani asked our Product Design Team to explore new opportunities for the Santa Lucia brand of mozzarella.
The focus was on changing the format of mozzarella so it could be eaten like a pasta dish. The challenge was to keep the product within the bounds of what is considered mozzarella. The design needed to be a product that was white, round, soft and preserved in whey. People typically like to eat mozzarella as it is or dress it.

During the exploration phase we found that there are no available mozzarella products on the market that can retain a dressing. This led to investigating traditional pasta formats.

After much experimentation, orecchiette pasta was found to be the closest shape to the round, edgeless appeal of mozzarella. Copying the shape of orecchiette was possible without altering the cheese making process.
The technique only required small changes to the standard production line.