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Success Story
Cheese plant offers
steady income and a
quality product
Premium Cheese Creates Opportunities
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Photo: Tim Bergstrom, Land O’Lakes
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Dr. Jendayi Frazer, U.S. Ambassador
to South Africa, center, samples
premium chèvre produced by Zama
Goat Cheese.
Ambassador Frazer was so
impressed with the flavor
that she requested that the
cheese be served at all
future official functions.
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Mike Sandile, head cheesemaker at South Africa’s Zama Goat
Cheese, attended a reception hosted by the U.S. Ambassador
in November 2004, bringing with him samples of his company’s
cheese. U.S. Ambassador Jendayi Frazer was so impressed
with the flavor that she requested that the cheese be served at
future official functions. The Ambassador’s head chef added it
was one of the best goat cheeses she had tasted and that its
quality and texture made it easy to work with and adaptable for
numerous recipes.
With support from USAID, Zama Goat Cheese was established
in 2003 to give disadvantaged South Africans the opportunity to
generate income while producing and marketing a premium
chèvre (French for “cheese”). Zama’s owners and operators
were once day laborers, working in someone else’s processing
plant. Now they run a successful cheese processing plant that
provides jobs for the community and also helps others by
purchasing some of the plant’s milk requirements from
disadvantaged farmers.
Created virtually from scratch, Zama required support
developing all areas of its operation. USAID provided technical
assistance, networking opportunities and access to equipment
and facilities, as well as training in the knowledge and skills
needed to successfully manage a cheese production business.
A financial management system was developed, and the
owners were trained in its use. The financial record keeping
system and the budget that was developed provided the basis
for a grant from the Eastern Cape Department of Agriculture,
enabling the purchase of additional equipment and 127 milking
goats. Extensive training was provided in herd management
and cheese production.
Zama Goat Cheese now produces and markets more than 550
pounds of cheese every month, providing a profitable and
sustainable livelihood for its employees, clients and their
families.
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