Parmalat's Mature Gouda crowned SA Dairy Product of the Year 2017

Parmalat SA Woolworths Mature Gouda 10 months

854 products from 83 producers vied for the special attention of the 74 judges who ranged from food technologists to cheese retailers, and food bloggers to chefs. Sixteen were honoured with the Qualité mark of excellence and 95 were named SA Champion.

Milk now part of the fold

Following 183 years of hosting the competition, which is greatly revered by the local industry, Agri-Expo constantly searches for innovative ways of perfecting this process. For this purpose, new categories were established for pasteurised milk and UHT milk. “We are only too aware that not all milk are created equal and we were pleasantly surprised by the quality of entries we received,” says Johan Ehlers, Agri-Expo CEO. “The judges chose to award four milk products with the title of SA Dairy Champion: Clover for their Prisma UHT Full Cream and UHT Low Fat, Fairfield Dairy’s Woolworths Pasteurised Milk (Low Fat – Ayrshire), and the Woolworths Ayrshire Full Cream Milk by Rhodes Food Group.”

“The process of determining the Dairy Product of the Year from such classes as ice cream and butter, or cottage cheese and sheep’s milk cheese, is no easy feat,” says chief judge and international dairy expert Kobus Mulder. “Therefore, Agri-Expo instituted a new procedure whereby all the Qualité winners are lined up and evaluated to determine the most superior dairy product from amongst these exceptional products. In previous years the product with the highest overall score was awarded this honour.”

Growing goats milk niche

No less than 13 producers are newcomers to this year’s competition (of which five offers mainly goat’s milk products, indicating a steady growth in this niche product range).

According to first time entrant, Jason Sandell, co-finder of Las Paletas, an authoritative competition such as this is great for any brand, but especially so for artisan producers. “We chose to enter some of our 100% natural dairy products which have the widest appeal for the mass market,” he explains. (Las Paletas who produces handmade artisan sorbet and dairy lollies, wins a SA Champion award for their Grande Chocolate Lolly.) In an effort to promote continuous improvement and innovation, all entrants benefit from feedback from the judges.

Full list of the 2017 Qualité Award winners:

Parmalat SA: Simonsberg Matured Gouda | Woolworths Matured Gouda 10 months | Matured Cheddar | Woolworths Vintage Cheddar - minimum age: 18 months

Lancewood Holdings: PnP Low Fat Chunky Cottage Cheese - Sweet Piquant Pepper & Garlic | PnP Medium Fat Cream Cheese - Balsamic & Onion | Medium Fat Plain Cream Cheese

Belnori Boutique Cheesery: Kilembe

Clover: 1906 Extra Mature Cheddar: 10-18 months

Dalewood Fromage: Dalewood-Lanquedoc

Delitaly: Don Gelato Piemonte Hazelnuts

De Pekelaar Kaas: Boerenkaas with Cumin

Fair Cape Dairies: Woolworths Full Cream Raspberry Yoghurt

Fairview Cheese Company: Woolworths De Leeuwen

Foxenburg Estate: Renosterbos Matured - four months

Klein River Cheese: Klein River Gruberg - Extra Mature