The Overberg’s beloved artisan cheesemaker, Klein Rivier Cheese claims three SA Champion titles in addition to ten international medals at the recent 2026 SA Dairy Awards held at Nederburg Paarl. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nestled in the heart of Stanford along the banks of the Klein River, they have been doing something remarkable for over 25 years – and the world has taken notice. Klein River Cheese, South Africa’s most award-winning artisan cheesemaker, has capped an extraordinary season on the global cheese circuit, cementing its reputation not just as an Overberg treasure, but as a world-class producer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the 2026 SA Dairy Championships – judged over three days by a formidable panel of 130 experts – Klein River Cheese claimed three coveted SA Champion titles. Their Gruberg Vintage 12 Months and Cultured Salted Butter earned top honours, while their Parmesan two-years, crafted exclusively for Babylonstoren, rounded out a remarkable hat-trick. The winners were announced on 23 April, with 122 products named SA Champions across all classes.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The accolades didn’t stop there. Klein River also secured second-place finishes with their Parmesan (1-year), Cape Leopard from their Safari Collection, and the Oak Smoked Stanford – an exclusive for Woolworths – alongside a third-place finish for their Gruberg Mature (six Months).\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cheese Awards in Bern<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Just months earlier, Klein River had dazzled on the international stage at the 2025 World Cheese Awards in Bern, Switzerland – the largest cheese competition on the planet, featuring over 5,000 cheeses from nearly 50 countries. The Stanford dairy collected an impressive ten medals, highlighted by a Super Gold for their 24-month Babylonstoren Parmesan, which also earned the prestigious Best South African Cheese trophy. Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals followed across a range of their signature varieties.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n Behind every medal is a team led by the head cheesemaker Clement October, who took the reins in 2021 after apprenticing under legendary cheesemaker Jaco van Beulen for 12 years. In 2024 Agri-Expo has honoured Clement with the inaugural Hollard Game Changer Award. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n Klein River sources its milk exclusively from small, neighbouring Jersey dairy farmers whose pasture-raised, grass-fed cows have been silage- and hormone-free since 1994 – a philosophy as principled as the cheese is delicious.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n With 14 varieties crafted using age-old artisanal methods, Klein River Cheese remains true to its roots – and the results speak for themselves. You can visit them at 14 Queen Victoria Street, Stanford, any day of the week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Overberg’s beloved artisan cheesemaker, Klein Rivier Cheese claims three SA Champion titles in addition to ten international medals at the recent 2026 SA Dairy Awards held at Nederburg Paarl. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":296514,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","_crsspst_to_novanewscoza":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozabloemnewsexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozacityvision":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozadistrictmailhelderberg":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaeikestadnuus":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozakomani-karoo":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozakougaexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozamthathaexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozanoordkaapbulletin":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozapaarlpost":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozapeexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozapeoplespost":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaswartlandgazette":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozatygerburger":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaudexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozavistanews":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozavrystaatkroon":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaweskusnuus":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaweslander":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaworcesterstandard":false,"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"sponsored_utm_source":"","sponsored_utm_medium":"","sponsored_utm_campaign":"","sponsored_utm_term":"","sponsored_utm_content":"","_newspack_byline_active":false,"_newspack_byline":"","newspack_content_restriction_is_exempt":false,"author_byline":"","competition_end_date":"","featured_image_custom_caption":"","language_version_url":"","post_language":"en","video_embed_url":"","scaip_prevent_shortcode_addition":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8846,1],"tags":[8974,9075,9074,7909,8978,8864],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"publication":[],"class_list":["post-296513","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-agriculture","category-news","tag-cheese-awards","tag-klein-rivier-cheese","tag-oerberg","tag-recommended","tag-sa-dairy-awards","tag-stanford"],"yoast_head":"\n