Wine of the Steppe: How We Reframed Kumys Through a Product Metaphor

An ancient drink gained character, packaging, and a voice in the hands of a small brand that simply wanted to be understood by its own people.

Branding for Saf Qymyz — an ancient drink of the nomads

they spoke about inspiration: a farm in Katon-Karagay, kumys that is drunk like a memory, like pride, like home. From the very beginning, it was clear that we were witnessing an attempt to build something new and national.

When the client first came to us,

with a semiotic analysis. We explored visual and symbolic codes, gathered cultural associations, and identified two main pillars:

We started the work

The second: to make the product legible, we built a metaphorical bridge. Kumys is like wine. Just as ancient, just as ritualistic. It's aerated (in Kazakh — sapyru), it matures, it has gradations, regional character, specific moments of consumption. The comparison to wine gave us solid ground to stand on. It let us talk about the product not as a relic of the past, but as a complex gastronomic culture.

The first: good kumys is a word-of-mouth brand. People buy it from someone they know, from a roadside stand, from "those very people." It always carries a sense of mystery, as if it's passed along on a line of trust and recommendation. And almost every time someone drinks kumys, someone nearby says, "You haven't tried the real thing yet."

they spoke about inspiration: a farm in Katon-Karagay, kumys that is drunk like a memory, like pride, like home. From the very beginning it was clear that we were witnessing an attempt to build something new and national.

When the client first came to us,

The first: good kumys is a word-of-mouth brand. People buy it from someone they know, from a roadside stand, from "those very people." It always carries a sense of mystery, as if it's passed along on a line of trust and recommendation. And almost every time someone drinks kumys, someone nearby says, "You haven't tried the real thing yet."

The second: to make the product legible, we built a metaphorical bridge. Kumys is like wine. Just as ancient, just as ritualistic. It's aerated (in Kazakh — sapyru), it matures, it has gradations, regional character, specific moments of consumption. The comparison to wine gave us solid ground to stand on. It let us talk about the product not as a relic of the past, but as a complex gastronomic culture.

with a semiotic analysis. We explored visual and symbolic codes, gathered cultural associations, and identified two main pillars:

We started the work

two ideas — word-of-mouth memory and a noble product metaphor the brand was born.

At the intersection of these

• Semiotic analysis of the product, cultural codes, and rituals
• Research into consumer patterns and motivations
• Development of a product metaphor wine as the reference
• Naming and descriptors
• Meaningful packaging: visual code, archetype, and attributes

What We Did:

Results:

• A vivid image: kumys as the wine of the steppe
• An archetype: wise, pure, and belonging to the future
• A strategy: “the taste of real thing” — tradition meeting a new generation
• Packaging that can speak to the city without losing its roots
• A living brand that can move straight from the farm to a supermarket shelf

Clean. Composed. Layered.
SAF QYMYZ

Contacts

Sometimes one conversation is already a beginning.

Write if you would like to discuss a task or inquiry.

e-mail: yrystyerden@gmail.com

tg: @yrystyabout

contact me

Contacts

contact me

e-mail: yrystyerden@gmail.com

tg: @yrystyabout

Sometimes one conversation is already a beginning.

Write if you would like to discuss a task or inquiry.