A small bakery in the West Village is making rich, Halloumi cheese-filled pastries that are unlike any other.
The brick-and-mortar launch of Hello Halloumi happened a few weeks ago and their savory pastries are bringing Cyprus’ diverse flavors alive in the Big Apple.
Originating from the birthplace of the Greek goddess of love, Aphrodite, Cyprus is home to the production of halloumi cheese. Known for its unique savory, salty and slightly tangy flavor, the cheese has a growing market in the U.S. in recent years.
Born and raised in Cyprus, Constantino Papadakis, the owner of Hello Halloumi, moved to New York for college and was in the hospitality industry, managing restaurants for quite a few years, before entering the finance sector.
“When I left my job at a Private Equity firm, I wanted to pursue a passion project and introduce the versatility of halloumi cheese to New Yorkers. There were many customers who showed up at the opening of our bakery and said that they are happy to finally have a halloumi cheese bakery in New York”, said Papadakis.
Papadakis has been in the private equity and real estate investments, providing him with the fundamental understanding of entrepreneurship, workings of lenders and landlords. Stemming from that finance background, Papadakis was prepared to fund the business from his own capital without any investors to start Hello Halloumi in the West Village.
Amongst mozzarella, cheddar and American cheese, what makes halloumi stand out?
Besides its irreplaceable flavors, having a high melting point keeps the essence of the halloumi cheese intact when heated.. Regardless of how it’s cooked, whether it is grilling, baking or frying, halloumi can withstand heat from changing its original flavors.
At the moment, Hello Halloumi makes bagel bites, sweet and savory pastries and eventually wants to expand their menu to include sandwiches and salads as well.
One thing, however, might stand in the way of those gooey goals: President Trump’s tariffs.
In the face of challenges, the U.S. recently imposed a 10% tariff on Halloumi imports from Cyprus, accounting for 3% of the cheese’s total overseas export, valued at over $11 million annually.
“It’s a challenging process to import halloumi cheese into the country, I think that is also one of the reasons why there isn’t a lot of halloumi in the U.S. One of my good friends who runs a small Greek restaurant in Long Island, wanted to expand his imports of Halloumi cheese and currently he is the one who supplies them to our bakery”, added Papadakis.
The Cyprus dairy producers association are however, more concerned about the ending of the five-year grace period of the European Union’s Protected Designation of Origin status for Halloumi, after which the dairy producers must gradually increase the composition of goat and sheep milk in the cheese to at least 51% by 2029.
The tariffs were announced when Papadakis was negotiating with the previous landlord and choosing a store for the bakery.
“After hearing about the tariffs, I decided to take a step back and see what my costs were as I didn’t want to open the bakery and just keep changing the prices. Hopefully the trade issues of the U.S. will not impact us as much but it definitely impacts the prices. Since halloumi is an imported good, we try to keep our prices as low as possible,” said Papadakis.
Unlike other bakeries in New York, the pricing strategy adopted by Hello Halloumi is weight-based instead of having different prices for the pastries. “Having different prices would’ve been confusing and I actually used the price model we have back home in Cyprus, where you pay by the ounce. Some pastries are more expensive than the others but through this model, we are able to absorb those prices and hopefully maintain it as a successful business,” added Papadakis.
Two of the delicacies that Hello Halloumi is still perfecting are the Greek salad and Halloumi burger. Since the bakery is meatless, they are considering introducing some meat alternatives as well.
Although Hello Halloumi does not sell full-sized meals yet, they are working on it. Papadakis envisions expanding the availability of halloumi, hopefully reaching different neighborhoods of the city in the near future.
