Address

Klein River Cheese Farmstead, Route 326, 7 km out of Stanford, Overberg, Western Cape, South Africa

4 medals at the 2023 World Cheese Awards in Norway!

GOLD: Overberg

BRONZE: Raclette, Gruberg Vintage & Milkwood Coast (new)

Remaining the most award-winning artisan cheese family in South Africa

The family-run business has been crafting cheese for more than 20 years on the Farmstead.

Klein River Cheese Farmstead is situated near Stanford, an art and foodie heritage village, surrounded by a lazy, meandering river, lush forests and grey-cliff, jagged mountains.

The farm is also the home of the Baleta family since March 2015. They are dedicated to ensuring that we live and work in tune with our environment, community and Farmstead.

KLEIN RIVER FARMSTEAD’S DRIVE TOWARDS SUSTAINABILITY

A new environmentally friendly boiler system has allowed us to improve efficiency of our heating systems needed for the cheese-making.
An improved refrigeration system has recently been installed to reduce affinage energy.
Our water is sourced from our very own dam and a wastewater wetland system is currently being designed.
160 indigenous trees have been planted with a huge amount of alien clearing undertaken since mid-2015.
All the whey byproduct from the cheese-making is fed to our cattle on the farm – a great protein and energy source!
A huge reduction in plastic use on the Farmstead.
Established Effective Microorganisms (EM) and 4 worm farms to create our own compost.
A recycling system has been implemented on the Farmstead.
A house upliftment scheme is underway for our valued staff, who live on the Farmstead.
Klein River Farmstead is a geocache location!
Our proudest moment was the installation of a 27 kWh PV solar system on 26 October 2016 which has allowed us to save 3 tons of Carbon Dioxide and 3 MWh of power per month since its inception.

That is 23 % of all electricity used in our factory and Farmstead.

In essence, every 4th wedge of cheese purchased from us was made by the sun!

These schemes have resulted in job creation for the local community, allowing Klein River Cheese Farmstead to promote locavore values and produce cheese in a sustainable manner.