Most people associate Italian rice with the north, the vast paddies of the Po Valley feeding the country’s risotto habit.

Southern fields once told a different story.

Centuries ago, the plains around Paestum in Campania were under cultivation. The soil was suitable, but the conditions weren’t. Rice required standing water, which led to mosquitoes and the spread of malaria. By the 1800s, rice farming in the area had largely been abandoned.

For nearly two hundred years, the paddies were gone.

Now they’re back.

Advances in drainage and irrigation, along with the eradication of malaria, have made rice viable again. Fields written off generations ago are being planted once more.

Hera Nei Campi sits within that revival.

Instead of treating rice as another regional commodity, the brand frames it as a story of return. Its name references Hera, the Greek goddess associated with fertility and seasonal cycles, a nod to a landscape where ancient temples still stand on land farmed for thousands of years.

That approach carries through to the packaging. Hera’s eye appears as a central mark, supported by restrained graphics that link the grain to its land and growers. Classical references are paired with a strong colour palette, moving the product away from the neutral, interchangeable look typical of rice.

Rice is positioned as something tied to land, memory and cultivation, rather than a pantry staple.

Paestum is famous for its temples.

Now the rice fields are part of that landscape again, picking up a story that paused for nearly two centuries.