Records fly at this year’s SA Dairy Championships

South Africa’s dairy champions gathered to show off the best-of-the-best butter, cheese, yoghurt, milk and ice cream at the event, writes Glenneis Kriel.

Arecord 78 dairy producers Ž—Ž›ŽȱŠȱ›ŽŒ˜›ȱŗȹŖŘŜȱ products in this year’s SA Dairy Championships. Twelve of these companies had never participated in the event before.

The SA Dairy Championships ŽŠž›Žœȱ–˜›Žȱ‘Š—ȱŠȱŗŖŖȱŒ•ŠœœŽœȱ for cheese, yoghurt, milk, cream, ice cream, butter and other dairy products. Each class yields a winning product that is awarded a title.

The Qualité Mark of Excellence, the dairy industry’s sole mark of excellence, is reserved for select products of exceptional quality that have achieved a specific minimum score on an international level.

The product scoring the highest is crowned the Product of the Year.

A panel of 78 judges had only two days to assess the entries and this took place at the beginning of March. The ’——Ž›œȱ ’••ȱ‹ŽȱŠ——˜ž—ŒŽȱ˜—ȱŘśȱ ™›’•ǯȱȱȱ Chief judge Graham Sutherland said this was the first time the championship surpassed a thousand entries. “At the conclusion of the first day, the cheese entries demonstrated a commendable standard,” he said.

He also emphasised the complexity of a competition of this magnitude: “We have five judges per category selected from various sectors of the dairy industry, including cheese makers, quality managers, food technologists and marketing experts. The record number of entries meant

Žȱ–žœȱ™›˜ŒŽœœȱ–˜›Žȱ‘Š—ȱśȱŖŖŖȱœŒ˜›Žȱ sheets to determine the results.”

He told Farmer’s Weekly that feedback was given to the producers after the championships, which over the years have helped to elevate the standard of South African cheese to some of the best in the world. Breyton Milford, general manager of Agri-Expo, host of the championships, said it was a huge honour to showcase the dairy industry’s top quality through this esteemed event.

“The record-breaking entries underscore the confidence that the industry stakeholders place in this competition to set a benchmark of excellence,” said Milford.

THE EVENT HAS HELPED TO ELEVATE THE STANDARD OF SA CHEESES TO SOME OF THE BEST IN THE WORLD

Platinum partners at this year’s event included IMCD and DSM (Dairy Management Consulting). Diamond partners included CHR, Hansen and Synercore; gold partners were Checkers, Orchem, IFF, Woolworths and the Western Cape Agriculture Department. Silver partners included Condio and Pick n Pay, and Mane served as a bronze partner.

BELOW LEFT: Chief judge Graham Sutherland, Alrina Fourie from the platinum partner DSM, Breyton Milford, general manager of Agri-Expo, and Hanzubeth Labuschagne from the platinum partner IMCD, during judging at the 191th SA Dairy Championships.

LEFT: This year the SA Dairy Championships attracted a record 1 026 entries from a record 78 producers.

BELOW: Khusel Mchithakali, of Foxenburg Goats Cheese, takes a sample. AGRI EXPO/ANDREW GORMAN PHOTOGRAPHY

BOTTOM LEFT: Bianca Mollar, of Woolworths, and Angelique Swart, of Lactalis, share notes.

BOTTOM RIGHT: Kobus Mulder, one of the judges and honorary president of Agri-Expo, with Daryl Jacobs, deputy director-general of the Western Cape Department of Agriculture.

ABOVE: From left, Rudian Liddle, junior dairy and cheese buyer at Pick n Pay, Breyton Milford, general manager of Agri-Expo and Abdalla Osman, cheese buyer from Pick n Pay, talk cheese. BELOW LEFT: Claire Goosen of Chr. Hansen, Novonesis, and Laura Nyamukapa, of Méze Foods, share a moment.

BELOW: Quintin Paladin, general manager of Freshmark, Fresh Foods, Mariesa Vorster, Shoprite QA and technical development manager, and Chris Fourie, senior consulting at DMC.