From cows to cheese
In 1997, she bought three cows. In 1998 she did a cheese-making course and later the same year she started making Hijke cheese and yoghurt. Hester Hoogendijk tells us more.
Your real dream was to make cheese… What possessed you to start right at the bottom in 1997, with three cows you had to milk yourself? There was no other way to realise my hobby fully. I’ve always been a determined person who’s not afraid of a challenge or hard work, and I wanted to master all the different aspects of this challenge myself.
The cows grazed on our little farm not too far from OR Tambo International Airport, and I had to milk them myself because I couldn’t afford the milking equipment. A friend taught me how to do this by hand. I would get up every morning at 03:00 to milk the cows and by 06:00 I was at Tembisa Railway Station, where I’d sell the milk as a way to grow the business so I could buy more calves… You need about 100 litres of milk to make 10kg of cheese, which then still has to age!
When you start on such a small scale you have to save every single cent so you can afford milking equipment, medicine, soap, cloths, cans, concentrated feed, and so on. It took me about four years to gather 50 cows: my own calves and additional calves I bought, along with heifers in calf that I bought from breeders.
Where does your love of cows come from? It’s probably a sentimental thing… When I was 12, I spent a year with my aunt and her family on their dairy farm outside Montagu, where the cows grazed peacefully and were milked every day. I was mentally unwell when I arrived, and the cows were instrumental to my healing.
Cows are gentle, sensitive creatures. You can tell when they are ill just from looking into their eyes. The more gently you treat a cow, the more milk she will produce and the less susceptible she is to disease. For me, milk is an incredible gift from the Creator. It’s one of the most complete food types available: rich in protein, carbohydrates, calcium and vitamins. It contains everything we need to grow and produce energy, as well as for the development of bone, muscle and brain matter. Milk has a markedly positive effect on the physical and intellectual development of children.
What about cows has surprised you? How difficult it is to turn a cow into an economic unit! There are a huge number of costs involved, all of which must be paid from the little bit of money you get for the milk: maintaining the stalls in a clean, hygienic and working condition; feed and grazing; the care of the calves and cows; salaries; fuel; vehicles; housing… People are prepared to pay more for a can of Coke than they are for the same amount of milk – and milk is something that can keep you alive!
Based on your experience and interactions with South African consumers, what are the biggest misconceptions about cows and dairy farming? Consumers have no idea how much time, work, money and sacrifice a dairy requires – you are literally on duty 365 days a year. If you are late with one milking session, your cows get sick. Most people don’t want to, or can’t, pay for a healthy, natural product containing no preservatives and additives. They always look for the cheapest option and don’t realise what has been added in order to make it the cheapest. I think the money they save in this way is money they will spend later on medical costs.
You’re now living in Stellenbosch, where you’ve started Vernuft Deli Café. You also still own the farm in the north, as well as Hijke, the cheese business you started in 1998. But why did you sell the cows a few years ago? My goal was always to make cheese. Caring for and housing cows and managing a dairy are a full-time job, just as making cheese is a full-time job. It’s not possible for one person to do both. We now buy our milk from an excellent supplier who takes good care of his cows. I also had to start thinking about retirement. We couldn’t stay on the farm… It became too dangerous. We were attacked badly once, and four of our neighbours were killed in farm attacks. But we still own Hijke. I speak to the staff I trained almost every day and my husband visits the factory once a month.
Would you encourage someone to buy their own dairy cow? Only if you have a safe, comfortable place to keep the cow, and can give it enough time and food. If you cannot do this, both you and the cow will be very unhappy.
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