Dairy Industry
Qualité cheese and Veritas wine tastings
The three annual public tastings of Qualité Awards cheese as part of the Veritas wine tasting events held in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban prove to be very successful. The purpose of these tastings is to showcase the best cheeses of the year and to promote the Qualité Awards as an indicator of dairy quality. Consumers and senior hospitality staff attend the tastings and commercial leads are forwarded to cheeseries.
The South African Dairy Championships
The staging and organisation of the South African Dairy Championships compares extremely well with suchlike international competitions. Judging took place on 31 March at the Bellville Civic Centre. Entries for the Championships have stabilised but the 875 entries for the year is still satisfactory and the fact that 77 dairy processors have entered their products is an indication that the Championships is valued.
New classes for dairy desserts have attracted record entries, while the popularity of goat’s milk products continues to reflect in the number of entries. A further benefit of participating is the value of the judges’ comments, which are passed on to the processors. These comments are used to improve and benchmark their products. Processors are increasingly using their awards to promote their products by displaying the SA Champion and Qualité logos on the packaging.
Brian Gersty, international judge from Nantwich,
Cheshire, England as well as local judges Suzy O’Regan en Vernon Manuel |
One international judge and a past Burgundy Cheese making Fellowship student were invited as judges and their participation was well publicised by the press. The judges’ decision to award the Product of the Year prize to a cultured butter from Ladismith Cheese came as a surprise but resulted in the product being re-launched on a national level – a clear indication what influence the Championships could have at commercial level. The 2010 presentation of the SA Dairy Championships received the EXSA award for the Most Memorable Event of the Year. This is a particularly outstanding achievement and indication of the quality of this presentation. |
The Danisco Qualité Awards Dinner
The fact that Danisco had agreed to sponsor the Qualité Awards Dinner for the fourth year is proof of the value and standard of this prestigious event. The dinner was held on 27 April at Bloemhof Girls’ High in Stellenbosch and is the foremost dairy event in South Africa.
Four hundred and twenty guests from all sectors of the dairy industry attended this function where the South African Champions, Qualité Awards and the Dairy Product of the Year were announced. The evening was a glittering event with entertainment, good food and wine and unexpected surprises and was well covered by agricultural and industry media.
Back f.l.t.r: Danie Nel (Parmalat SA), Francois Colyn (Clover SA), Morne Malan (Lancewood Holdings), Francois
van Zyl (DairyBelle), Arnold Nieuwoudt (Parmalat SA), Johan Ehlers (CEO Agri-Expo), Davide Ostuni (Puglia
Cheese cc), Jill de Kock (Parmalat SA), Jacques Coetzee (Ladismith Cheese), Cecil Hambridge (Ladismith Cheese),
Arinda Jones (Fair Cape Dairies)
Front f.l.t.r: Warren Bouwen (Stonelees Dairy), Henry Williams (Lancewood Holdings), Zanelle Sutherland
(Marcel’s Frozen Yoghurt), Alan Taylor (Ladismith Cheese), Haley Gardner (Honeydew Dairies)
Back l f.l.t.r: David Jackson (Simonsberg Cheese),
Kobus Mulder (Agri-Expo Dairy Manager),
Jonathan Hendricks (Kasselhoop Cheese)
Front f.l.t.r: Lezl Pietersen (Arista Dairies),
Andries Hendricks (All Seasons Dairy)
SA Dairy Product of the Year
cultured butter
Africa projects
The following projects were managed by Agri-Expo for SPEAR CC during the past year:
» Equipping a dairy laboratory in Beira and training the personnel;
» Individual consultation with dairy processors in the Manica province in Mozambique;
» Training of a Mozambican veterinary surgeon in hygienic milk production and processing;
» Design, building and equipping of a milk processing plant in Beira;
» Selecting and training of six cheese makers from Mozambique, Malawi, Tanzania and Zambia in Burgundy, France;
» Individual consultation with milk processors in Malawi and Zambia on product quality.
International cheese competitions
The 2010 World Cheese Awards was held in Manchester and the South African cheeses earned a number of gold and silver medals. Agri-Expo acted as South African representative for this competition and handled the logistical aspects of all South African cheeses entered.
Retail training
Four three-day training sessions were presented to the staff of the biggest supermarket group in South Africa by Agri-Expo’s Manager: Dairy. To train personnel in the rest of the country, the Group extensively uses the training video made during the previous financial year.
Advisory and consultancy services
Large and medium cheeseries have made use of the Agri-Expo consultancy service on many occasions. Quality problems with dairy products were rectified and assistance was also given with the launch of new products and factory extensions. A number of lectures were also delivered at the chef training school.
Western Cape / Burgundy Cheese making Fellowship
Cheese making students from the Centre de Formation Professionnelle et de Promotion Agricole in Davayé, Burgundy visited the Western Cape during the year to attend the Cheese Festival and visit various cheeseries. Four Western Cape cheese makers visited Burgundy during September and were joined by two cheese makers from Tanzania and Kenya. The Fellowship remains highly successful as can be seen from the improvement in the cheeses made by past students. During the year, the cooperative agreement between the Burgundy and Western Cape governments was extended for another five years, which is excellent news for local cheese makers.
SA Cheese Festival
The fun image used to advertise the
celebrations of the 10th SA Cheese Festival was well received by the media |
The decision to open Sandringham’s gates for cheese lovers during the 10th SA Cheese Festival from 29 April to 2 May drew more than 31 600 visitors, as well as the largest number of exhibitors since the inception of the festival. The Sandringham terrain was divided in four festival areas – the Dairy Square, Carnival Park, Waterfront and Meander, which included the largest cheese emporium ever with a floor area of 3 200m². The many cheese stalls created a total service area of 212m where a wide variety of cheese could be tasted. The bigger Mall with Pinotage and olive experiences, catering stalls in all four areas, presentations in the food theatre, a lifestyle workshop and milk factory kept visitors happy and busy the whole day long. About 8 000 Nataniël, Brümilda van Rensburg, Shaleen Surtie Richards and Jenny Morris enthusiasts joined these celebrities daily at the Checkers Living Table for top class entertainment, snacks and fashion from well known designers. As in the past, several of Agri-Expo’s financial partners showed their loyalty through sponsorships. Various sponsors have been part of the festival for a very long time, but new ones also joined us this year. We would like to thank every sponsor and supplier that contributed to the success of the 10th SA Cheese Festival. |
Visitors in the Absa Mall paid special attention to the
Pinotage and Olive Experiences showcased there |
Liezel van der Westhuizen got to taste some cheese
from Dean Stockenstrom and Mike Eybers |
Jenny Morris, Shaleen Surtie Richards, Nataniël and
Brumilda van Rensburg hosted the presentations in the Checkers Living table |
Randall Wicomb were seen in the DStv Foodnetwork
Theatre with Alet Erasmus (Creative cuisine pantry) and Beyers Truter (Beyerskloof) |
The entrance gate at the new home of the SA Cheese
Festival at Sandringham |
A glass of Fleckvieh milk at the Santam
Agri Milk Factory |
A great honour befell the SA Cheese Festival when Premier Helen Zille presented this festival as a Western Cape Summit. The project was accepted and the six provinces, namely Western Cape, Shandong, Bavaria, Georgia, Quebec and Upper Austria, will endeavour to support the project for the next five years. This year we welcomed a cheese maker and various cheeses from Bayern at the SA Cheese Festival.
Min. Gerrit van Rensburg (Western Cape Minister of Agriculture)
hands Marc Friedrich of Marc’s Mediterranean Cuisine in Paarl his award for best stand in the catering category |
An EXSA (Exhibition and Event Association of Southern Africa) team judged the stalls during the festival. The following winners were announced by Minister Gerrit van Rensburg during the exhibitors’ breakfast:
|
The marketing and media campaign mainly focused on the fact that the SA Cheese Festival will be celebrating its 10th birthday, as well as on the new venue. Coverage to the amount of R19,6 million was generated.
Cheese lovers, exhibitors and sponsors agreed: the new SA Cheese Festival venue is great!