WHICH DAIRY PRODUCT WILL TRIUMPH?

With a lesser known goat’s milk cheese from Gauteng having been crowned the Dairy Product of the Year in 2010, all eyes will today (31 March) be on the 177th annual South African Dairy Championships.  Forty one local as well as international dairy experts, judging in absolute silence in a perfume free environment at 18°C, have to decide who the SA Dairy Champions will be and which products deserve a Qualité Award - the only symbol of outstanding dairy product quality in the country.  The 41 judges also have to decide which product to crown as the 2011 SA Dairy Product of the Year.  This top product can come from any one of the six categories judged and can be a cheese – hard, fresh or creamy - butter, yogurt, flavoured milk, dairy dessert or mounthwatering ice cream.

According to Kobus Mulder, Chief Judge and Manager : Dairy at Agri-Expo that presents the SA Dairy Championships:  “With 833 entries from 77 large and artisanal manufacturers, it is no mean task to exempt products of which the quality is so exceptional, that they can walk away with these top awards”.

One of the decision makers who made his curtsy as judge today, is Vernon Manuel, the first student in 2005 of the Burgundy Cheese making Fellowship.  This Cheese making Fellowship, sponsored by the Western Cape Department of Agriculture, affords trainee cheese makers the opportunity to improve their knowledge of cheese making through studying and training in Burgundy, France.   Manuel, born and in Worcester, completed his studies as food technologist and then joined a well known goat’s milk cheesery in Paarl as quality manager.  On his return from Burgundy, he introduced remarkable quality improvements at the cheesery and also developed a new cheese.  He is presently employed as dairy technologist by a well known retail group known for their quality products, where he is responsible for the group’s cheese quality.

The results of the Championship will be announced on 27 April 2011 at the Danisco Qualité Dinner and cheese lovers can get a  firsthand experience of the country’s top cheeses at the 10th SA Cheese Festival from 29 April to 2 May at the new venue Sandringham, Stellenbosch, halfway between Paarl and Cape Town.

For further details about the SA Diary Championship and SA Cheese Festival, contact Kobus Mulder at kobus@agriexpo.co.za or 021 975 4440 or visit www.cheesesa.co.za and www.cheesefestival.co.za


Issued by Agri-Expo
Contact: Mariana Rabie
tel 021 975 4440 / 082 871 1114
mariana@agriexpo.co.za