At Zandam what do we mean when we say: Uncompromising Quality?

The debate about what we put in our bodies and how those choices affect the world around us has become more heated (and confusing) than ever.

The fact that many food producers are unscrupulous when it comes to the descriptions they use for their products, doesn’t make your job as a consumer any easier. You’ll have to understand the lingo to make the best cheese choices.

Because we believe in our promise of pure, true cheese we thought it was high time to explain our Uncompromising Quality promise in more detail.

What does TRUE CHEESE mean?

If you are a cheese lover, you might have heard the chatter around dinner tables and supermarket aisles about “cheese”, “processed cheese” and even so-called “cheese replacements”.

Let’s cut through the babble

Cheese, that is to say, true dairy cheese, is a pure and unadulterated product, made from real milk, and processed in such a way that the end product is still 100% dairy based. True cheese does not try to hide or lie about what it is. It speaks for itself. The process of making cheese has been refined over centuries and authentic cheese is incomparable in its flavour, texture and taste.

Modified Cheese on the other hand is enriched with flavour-building enzymes and used to give an artificially intense cheese flavour to processed foods boasting a “cheese” flavour. The natural ripening process and subtle art of cheesemaking are bypassed mostly by the addition of artificial flavours and emulsifying salts.

Analogue “cheese” is not cheese at all.

It’s a food product that uses plant oils, modified starch, casein, water, artificial flavouring and colouring to imitate the texture, colour and flavour of cheese and is usually made by cooking up a mixture of water, vegetable oil, modified starch, casein and other ingredients listed below. It is a flavoured paste that is allowed to coagulate, cool down and then cut into the desired shapes to give it a familiar appearance for uninformed customers. (Read more here.)

The typical composition will include the following:

• 50% moisture (water)
• 25% vegetable oils (fat)
• 20% modified starch (potatoes)
• 4% Casein (milk protein)
• 1% Artificial flavouring, colouring and salts

No milk is used and no ripening process or natural ageing is involved.  

It is not cheese, but product producers will regularly (fraudulently) use Dairy terms and cheese names like mozzarella or cheddar to mislead the consumer.

Why is the dairy industry important in South Africa?

The influence of analogue cheese on the South African agri-processing industry is devastating. The South African Dairy industry has always been a major player in our country’s economy. The South African Dairy Cow industry alone is one of the largest agricultural industries in the country, employing more than 40 000 people.

At a conference on dairy farming, hosted in Pietermaritzburg in 2022, the importance of the sector was once again confirmed: “Dairy is the fourth largest agricultural industry in South Africa, there are currently about 1200 dairy farms and 1.2 million dairy cows in the country producing around 26,000 jobs.”

The process of making analogue cheese completely bypasses dairy producers, and employs only a very small number of factory workers, as analogue cheese production is completely mechanised. Because of this, analogue cheese can be produced at a much lower cost and in greater quantities than true cheese, which means the market is flooded by a product that often fools consumers.

This puts extra pressure on the dairy industry and poses a very real risk to everyone who makes a living from real cheese and dairy products.

If it’s not Kaas, we’ll pass.

There are several local dairy producers and cheesemakers who are fighting back. The True Cheese movement is focused on educating the public about the different products and celebrating real, 100% dairy cheese.

At Zandam we do not compromise. We do Cheese, and we do it well. Our recipes and processes have been passed down generations of Delle Donne’s and even though our processes have been refined, our promise has remained the same.

To further promote the importance of South African Dairy, Agri Expo has hosted the South African Dairy Championships since 1834.

For the past 190 years, these championships have celebrated excellence in South African dairy products.

Around 900 dairy products are judged by approximately 60 experts who evaluate the appearance, texture and flavour of products in ten categories.

Over the years, Zandam has entered the SA Dairy Championships numerous times and won various awards, with many of our cheeses being recognised as South African Champions in their respective categories. This year the winners will be announced at an awards dinner on Thursday, 25th of May.

Only the very best natural ingredients go into our cheese, and it is easy to taste the difference!

A final word from Mauro: “We have been doing this for more than 60 years at Zandam. Cheese is not just our heritage, but also our passion. We will not compromise.”