Fearless Foods was founded during lock down in 2020 when my specialised teaching (cookery) posts were all cancelled overnight. I'd been making fudge on and off for years and called it Fearless Fudge. I realised that I needed to be creative and think out the box to derive a new income, so I decided to call the business Fearless Foods to be inclusive…although somehow we keep coming back to the fudge as the absolute bestseller.
It is entirely owner run. I do the shopping, preparation, cutting, packing, selling as well as the washing up! I am absolutely passionate about making fudge, even after thousands of batches – I just love the way it spreads and the crackle on the baking paper!
Furthermore, I don’t use any preservatives or stabilisers and keep flavours as natural as possible. For instance our Espresso fudge is made with a shot of coffee, our Salted Caramel with a sauce I make specifically for the fudge and the Slightly Salty Liquorice has actual liquorice pieces mixed into it that I buy from my local corner café!
Probably the variety of fudge flavours. There are about 10 core flavours, though we have about 22 that have been made over the two years. We have also added two vegan flavours, which have been getting quite a lot of interest.
Our products are literally made in my home kitchen. It is not as big as you may imagine and certainly not big enough for my needs, I even let my family use it from time to time.
The focus is always on fresh, clean and safe handling.
I simply don’t give up! I sleep, eat, breathe Fearless Foods!
I think it's too early to look global, we are still a small (tiny) company with a big attitude, and will conquer South Africa first.
Only in South Africa at the moment.
We have recently started selling through TakeALot, so we won't be taking on any new projects just yet. The next step will probably be to move the kitchen out of our home into commercial space. We are also on the lookout for a representative to help grow our brand into small owner-run delis and other retail stores.
Contact person: Deirdre Cargill
Email Address: chef@fearlessfoods.co.za
Contact Number: +27 (0)76 8163 892
Website: https://www.fearlessfoods.co.za
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fearlessfoods
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fearlessfoodsct
The Falcon’s Nest Farm in the Blaauwklippen Valley of the Stellenbosch Mountains is home to Perry and Karen Chaloner, where they produce their award-winning Olive Oils and other artisanal products. When they purchased the farm in 1992, there was nothing apart from an expanse of land overgrown with alien vegetation. After seven years of hard work and patience, the farm started to flourish with fruit trees bearing olives, plums, lemons and Seville Oranges.
As well as enjoying a Mediterranean climate perfectly suited to cultivating olives, the farm falls within a temperate microclimate region that’s unique to Stellenbosch. While this means lower yields, the spin-off benefit is enhanced taste. Another distinguishing feature of the farm’s site is its decomposed granite soils, which lend the olive oils their diverse and unusual flavours.
Over the past two decades, the initial half hectare of olive trees has grown to 7 and includes nine different varietals. Each is bottled individually, as well as various cultivars blended to produce the Chaloner EVOO Mountain oil and The Peregrine Limited edition oil.
Perry Chaloner is the man behind the Chaloner range of artisanal products. He began experimenting with traditional jam recipes using the fruits that were flourishing on his 14-hectare farm to create preserves and tapenades with unique flavour combinations. He shared his creations with friends and family, and their response was overwhelmingly positive and encouraging. And so, based on the finest farm-grown ingredients, the range of innovative, hand-crafted, premium quality products was developed.
Our Olive & Chilli Marmalade and our single varietal olive oils. We are one of the few farms that have nine different olive cultivars. Giving us a wonderful selection of oils to blend. All our products are handcrafted and made with passion for quality over quantity. Our flavour combinations are unique, and we source locally and produce seasonally where possible. Our products are all small-batch produced, authentically. We have full traceability on all ingredients and employ sustainable purchasing practices. We minimize waste through the recovery and recycling of materials, we implement energy efficiency measures, and have a pollution prevention policy. Furthermore, we value the earth, as much as creating premium quality artisanal products.
Chaloner started very small, 30 years ago, and we have stayed true to our ethos, building our brand by word of mouth. We are a small, passionate team that all buy in to the philosophy of the brand. Building slowly and being consistent, credible and conscious.
Chaloner–lovers are discerning and appreciate quality, artisanal products and are passionate about taste and flavour. They are very conscious of ingredients and the environment.
We have shipped all over the world. From America to Asia, UK to New Zealand as well Europe.
Chaloner’s philosophy is: simply no compromise, so we are constantly innovating, staying on trends and reengineering. And being a small, dynamic team, we are able to react to market trends quickly.
Contact person: Keyoma Kriel
Email Address: retail@chaloner.co.za
Contact Number: +27 (0)76 1590 750
Website: https://www.chaloner.co.za
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Chaloner.preserves/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chaloner_sa/
Crater Coffees (Pty) Ltd was founded in 2012 in Parys, a small Free State town, located within the Vredefort Dome World Heritage area, where a meteor struck earth leaving a massive crater in its wake. Our hometown Parys and the Penny-farthing bicycle used in our logo were both derived from Paris in France. We are a proudly South African company.
Three friends saw the opportunity to create a coffee connected to Parys and the Dome. They started the business Crater Coffees in 2012 with a vision to create an experience “Where coffee is more than just a drink…”.
The directors have changed over the years and the business is now run by husband and wife team Fanie and Tertia Pretorius.
We are a family-run business, with a passion for good coffee roasted to perfection. We thrive on challenges, and we are passionate about exceptional service with coffee being our core focus.
The coffee range Fanie has developed is such that it caters for just about any coffee drinker, and different brewing methods. Fresh coffee is our aim, at all times. What makes us unique is the level of service offered, always going the extra mile to ensure a happy client enjoys the best cup of coffee ever.
As artisan roaster, Fanie refuses to have flavoured coffee in a bag. Beans are roasted to extract the right amount of flavours/aroma and to ultimately compliment the farmer's beans to the best of his ability.
We believe in having freshly roasted coffee, never older than 2 months from the roast date in bean format. We have a weekly roasting program and grind coffee on demand with the FIFO stock control method (First in First out) to ensure freshness.
We always share our knowledge and our love of coffee and do our utmost to educate our clients on the world of coffee.
We attract a lot of tourists from Gauteng and North West to our small town, of course we cater for our local clients too. Feedback has always been positive, we have just recently had a review in the South African Coffee Magazine’s blog on our Choc Noir coffee.
Coffee is all over the world with each country’s unique roast and beans that suit the palate of their people. Our focus is on the South African market, which in its own right is very diverse and growing in coffee culture and knowledge.
Currently, only in South Africa, except when friends take coffee with them when visiting families abroad.
Innovations for us are really in exploring different roasting and cooling techniques, working with beans from different countries and testing different roast profiles.
Contact person: Fanie Pretorius
Email Address: cratercoffees@gmail.com
Contact Number: +27 (0)83 304 0825
Website: https://www.cratercoffees.co.za
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cratercoffees
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crater_coffees
My homemade lunches sparked an interest at my work colleagues, which inspired me to create my first creation. After experimenting during the holidays, I arrived back at work with my first product, a falafel pre-mix in a brown bag with some printed instructions. People loved it, so I started selling it to colleagues and friends. I was lucky enough to have The Olive Branch Deli give the mix a try and start stocking the first products. The operation grew out of my home and into a properly kitted production-scale space. The offering has grown with three more Outcast Foods products, Crazy Falafel with beetroot cardamom and poppy seeds, a burger mix and a very special flapjack mix that is a world first needing only water or plant milk.
We have a small team of people who take great care in producing our quality products. We are always learning. At Outcast Foods, compromise is not an option. We will never add preservatives or strange ingredients to our products in order to scale. We aim to scale, but not by taking shortcuts.
All our products are unique, no one in the world is creating mixes that have activated pulses/legumes and our flavour profiles are all one of a kind. Our burger mix that won a gold in the Aurora Taste Challenge does not taste like every other plant based patty or try to mimic anything. It is a completely unique recipe. Our flapjack mix is also unique, there are very few if any mixes that require nothing but water or plant based milk. No need for eggs or egg replacements. The full range is gluten-free, additive free and nutrient dense.
No short cuts. It is a process that takes care and dedication. We activate the pulses and legumes, which have added health benefits.
The advantage is in the niche we are creating. We have premix competitors, but no one has matched the taste, health and convenience our product offer.
We have a wide audience, but I think our strongest demographic is the 25-45 years. We get a lot of feedback through social media, with people sharing what they make. People are often amazed at how good the falafels are. I think expectations for premixes are low, and we blow people away. People are often surprised at how much cooked product comes out of the box.
I think it would do well, it is unique, and I cannot wait to see the reaction.
South Africa, Zimbabwe and Mauritius.
We also supply the restaurant and catering trade, so anyone is welcome to contact us to understand how our mixes can help expand their plant-based menu and offerings with ease.
At this stage we have four quality products, and we need to concentrate on growing customer awareness. There are a few ideas that are waiting, and I cannot wait to get started.
Contact person: Guy Greenblat
Email Address: info@outcastfoods.co.za
Contact Number: +27 (0)61 2178 849
Website: https://www.outcastfoods.co.za
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/outcastfoods
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/outcastfoods
After twenty years of living in Central Africa, we decided to come back to South Africa. It was 2010 and the country was flourishing in the glory of the all that came with hosting the world cup! The estate, RIO LARGO was for sale, and Nick was excited to buy into a product that he knew had changed his health many years back after a trip to his GP, who stated that he should consume more extra virgin olive oil to lower his blood pressure!
So we became the proud owners in June 2010. Nick found himself passionately blending the oils harvested in that year and put together a winning formula - which won him DOUBLE GOLD at the SA OLIVE Awards. It put a spring in his walk and he decided to put all his energy into producing a quality olive oil, so he went off to University of California Davis Campus to study a master milling course and has since produced fabulous award-winning olive oils we love to share…
RIO LARGO, a privately owned estate in South Africa, comprises olive orchards, vines and a MORI TEM olive processing and bottling plant. RIO LARGO EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL is a blend of cultivars (FS17, Frantoio, Leccino and Coratino) grown, handpicked, pressed, and bottled on the estate. Oils are individually tasted from single cultivar tanks before blending to achieve a delicious fruity oil, which has won top local and international awards in New York, Italy, Japan, France and the Middle East since 2010. RIO LARGO adopts biological farming methods for sustainable agriculture by “putting more back than you take out” together with overall concern for protecting the environment for future generations.
Our innovative decanters of bag in box on tap, in a wonderful array of designs to suit, filled with that delicious award-winning extra virgin olive oil, fresh until the last drop!
Attention to detail EVERY STEP of the way, and cleanliness! The real secret is that Nick is hands-on and does it all …
Consistent quality olive oil which we are told is delicious, shared in innovative decanters on tap which ensures that quality till the last drop. We pack to order…storing our olive oil in large stainless steel decanters by cultivar under liquid nitrogen in air-conditioned premises.
Oh- who does not love Rio Largo! We are found in so many kitchens…as it does not matter what creed, colour, age or sex - everyone loves a quality EVOO!! We often get feedback that the consumer is surprised at how delicious our olive oil is…all the time!
We share RIO LARGO with consumers across the globe. The world is discovering how fabulous RIO LARGO is – a world-class extra virgin olive oil, at prices they can well afford! A win-win on all sides, and we have fresh olive oil from the Southern Hemisphere in the Northern Hemisphere summers….
Too many to mention here, but North and South; East And West…RIO LARGO is BEST!
Please tell us if you have any innovations in the pipeline for the future.
More innovative packaging! Watch this space….
Contact person: Brenda Wilkinson
Email Address: brenda@riolargo.co.za
Contact Number: +27 (0)82 3406 726
Website: https://www.riolargo.co.za
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RioLargoOliveEstate
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/riolargooliveestate/
I started my working life as an accountant, but soon realised that I needed opportunities where I can be creative (not creative accounting). I tried the life of a restaurateur for a while, then ERP Consultant/Project manager for 10 years, and finally I “found coffee” where I could live my creative dream. I love finding solutions for problems and the results are new products. My team is superb in executing my dreams and selling the new products.
“The Coffee Co” was founded in 2001 with an idea to rent bean-to-cup machines to the workspace and then sell great coffee. I bought the Company in 2003 and over the years I was pivotal to finding new solutions for clients ranging from coffee machines through freshly roasted coffee and all related soluble and consumable products to service. The national delivery is achieved through our franchise network. König Coffee is now a registered trademark, with a range of products we added to our stable while in “lockdown”.
To me, this is not work, it is what I do every day because I absolutely love the result of winning a new client over with a great cup of coffee.
After 19 years, it still excites me and I cannot stop talking about or sharing the experience with as many people as possible; from my partners, my own staff and every customer. You only have one life, so do not waste a day with bad coffee.
We keep on innovating and building products and systems to get our coffee to the people, like our newly launched coffee-in-a-bag for the hospitality industry, instead of instant sachets. This year we launched 4 new products.
We have from the highest quality, award-winning coffee for the coffee aficionados, to the newly launched UrnBag Coffee for the price sensitive, a mix of our coffee with chicory served in 20 litre urns for high volume consumers like Agri, Call Centres, Taxi Ranks etc.
We are a proudly South African story, but I would like to get an opportunity to export our CBD single-serve coffee, but we are not there yet.
In South Africa mostly and then in Namibia, Zambia and Mauritius.
We launched quite a number of new products recently and want to get market penetration first. My team stopped me from introducing more new stuff right now…
Contact person: Christo König
Email Address: christo@konigcoffee.co.za
Contact Number: +27 (0)82 498 0298
Website: https://konigcoffee.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KonigCoffee/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/konig_coffee/?hl=en
Cecil Vinegar Works has been manufacturing naturally fermented vinegar since 1936.
All our vinegars are produced from natural ingredients using the latest submerged fermentation technology. Our range covers a wide spectrum of naturally fermented vinegar products which ranges from retail packs of 200ml, 375ml, 500ml, 750ml and 2 litres, to bulk loads of 1,000L to 30,000L for industrial customers. Additionally, we supply catering and home industry sectors in larger 5L and 25L drums.
Our vinegars are available in all supermarkets across South Africa under the Safari and Retail brands and available in PET and glass packaging formats.
With over 8 decades of heritage, knowledge & experience, Cecil Vinegar Works produces a full range of vinegar and vinegar related products and is still one of the few manufacturers of Apple cider vinegar in South Africa.
We supply an extensive range of products, but some of our unique products include:
All our vinegars are produced from natural ingredients using the latest submerged fermentation technology. As a rule, we do not produce any imitation vinegar – we believe in bringing consistent high quality natural products to market.
We cater to a broad range of consumers, with our extensive range of products fulfilling the needs across the full spectrum, from the bottom end of the market all the way to the ultra-premium sector. Owing to our stance and processing methodology – our products deliver consistent quality, allowing Cecil Vinegar to be the go-to for retailers and end consumers alike.
We distribute branded and private label products to every strategic global markets plus all SADC countries.
You can find our products in New Zealand, UK, Mauritius, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, Malawi, Zambia, and USA.
We are extending the Safari brand range into adjacent complementary premium categories within the premium space following our successful launch in 2021 with the range of Balsamic and Organic wine & Apple vinegars.
Contact person: Wynand Louw – GM
Email Address: wynand@naturalvinegar.co.za
Contact Number: +27 (0)21 845 4001
Website: https://www.cecilvinegar.co.za and https://www.safarivinegar.co.za
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/safarivinegar/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/safarivinegar
This historic fruit and wine farm dates back to 1692 and has one of the best-preserved plaaswerwe (farmyards) in the Western Cape (area in South Africa). It was authentically reimagined by its current owners more than a decade ago to celebrate its history – and future.
Today, Babylonstoren is cherished for its magnificent formal garden, inspired by the historic Company’s Garden in Cape Town that supplied the spice fleets sailing between Europe and Asia with fresh fruit and vegetables in the 17th and 18th centuries. Each of the 300-plus plant varieties of the garden is edible or has medicinal value. The garden boasts a living library of historic rose and fruit cultivars, a splendid succulent collection, a kitchen garden planted with a variety of seasonal vegetables, thousands of clivias, a healing garden, exotic cycad collection and Spice House where tropical plants thrive. Every single aspect of Babylonstoren – including the contemporary Farm Hotel and Garden Spa, the Farm Shop, Winery, Meat Room, farm-to-fork restaurants, Scented Room and Bakery – is led by the ever-changing tapestry and botanical diversity of the garden.
Babylonstoren takes great pride in our range of fresh cheeses that are made on the farm in the Cheese Room. The unique feature of our cheeses is that we have our own herd of water buffalo cows supplying us with the freshest, pure white milk to make our range of cheeses every day. All our cheeses are made by hand every day.
We have two core fresh cheese offerings. One includes a range of products made with water buffalo milk, while we use Jersey cow milk for the other range. We source the water buffalo milk from our own herd, while the Jersey milk comes from a trusted supplier in Robertson.
At Babylonstoren, we make only fresh cheeses.
Our new favourite product is definitely our one-of-a-kind water buffalo gelato and the water buffalo panino gelato made with this creamy frozen dessert and stroopwafels! However, all our farm made cheeses are truly unique in that they’re made fresh every day in our very own milk room on the farm. Our Bocconcnini, mozzarella and water buffalo yoghurt are all testament to the wonderful quality of our very own water buffalo milk.
Please tell us what is unique about your manufacturing process, and your manufacturing philosophy.
The unique aspect of our cheese-making process is our full-circle farm-to-table process. Babylonstoren is one of only a handful of farms producing its own water buffalo products from our own herd. We started the herd in 2019 under the guidance of our dairy and poultry farmer, Christo Botha and his water buffalo man Kobus Lambrechts. Today, Babylonstoren boasts 121 water buffalo in total, with around 30 cows currently in milk production (this changes regularly). Each water buffalo also has their own personal name – and personality!
Apart from our thriving herd of water buffalo, we also have a secret weapon in our dedicated cheese maker Alta Eybers and her team. Alta honed her cheese making skills in Italy and is an invaluable part of the Babylonstoren cheese success story. She is constantly developing her range using the best farm ingredients.
We have many returning guests to the farm who enjoys our water buffalo gelato and the water buffalo mozzarella. We supply our water buffalo products to the Babylonstoren Farm Shop, online shop and our restaurants, with the freshest handmade products. Each batch is a labour of love, perfectly made by hand – so the overall feedback we get is that the time we put into our products speaks of superb quality.
Another unique aspect of the Babylonstoren way is that we host workshops on our buffalo mozerella and gelato. We open our Cheese Room to other cheese enthusiasts and Alta demonstrates the craft behind mozzarella making – from cutting the curds to stretching them into balls. The class also includes a cool demonstration by Babylonstoren artisanal ice-cream maker Carla Hills of how to make your own authentic water buffalo gelato.
Alta Eybers, our cheese maker, has had training both in Italy and locally. Her fresh cheese creations are therefore on par – we believe even better! – than what’s expected on the international stage. Paired with our farm-fresh ingredients, every churn of gelato or scoop of yoghurt is a worthy contender on the global stage.
At Babylonstoren, we strive to always learn and grow and improve our offerings. Alta and her team are constantly working on new creations – like the limited-edition rosewater gelato made with water buffalo milk and raspberries, fresh flowers and pomegranates we did especially for Mother’s Day this year. We’re currently working on a similar show-stopping gelato for the upcoming festive season, as well as various soft yoghurt cheeses (hang-op cheese) infused with Christmas flavours.
Email Address: enquiries@babylonstoren.com
Contact Number: +27 (0)21 863 3852
Website: https://www.babylonstoren.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/babylonstoren
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/babylonstoren
Wayne recalls his earliest peri peri soaked memories – buying portions of slap chips (soft French fries) after school at the Portuguese-owned café, in Nelspruit’s town centre. He still remembers the distinct flavour and aroma of the chilli sauce mixed with the amazing smells of salt and vinegar chips, the owner drenched the chips in; a hot, greasy peri peri sauce filling your nose with the smell of warm spices as you walk home.
Many years later, and stranded by the COVID lockdown, Wayne tried to replicate this fond childhood memory by experimenting with his interpretation of the chilli sauce. After many months of development, he finally managed to cook up a batch of peri peri sauce that captured that specific nostalgic memory, filled with a deliciously intoxicating blend of paprika, garlic, ginger, black pepper and chilli - this was so exciting!
Hard-pressed by the lockdown bans enforced due to COVID restrictions, Wayne put his heart and soul into marketing his peri peri products, starting close with friends and family. Soon, he realized that like the slow burn of a good chilli sauce, the fire was spreading, and his products were exceptionally well received, people loved it! I guess you could say, the rest is history...
The Vasco Da Gama Peri Peri brand pays homage to the flavours and aromas of collective Portuguese cuisine, and nods in the direction of the 14th century East African trade route, when herbs and spice became a coveted trade commodity.
Today we have formed a company to be able to supply you with the very same recipe and to ensure the same traditions are carried in the generations to come...
Well, there is one thing that is relevant to all aspects of life, what you put in is what you get out. We focus on very high-quality raw products that match our documented specifications and procedures. From there, we follow a strict protocol of food safety methodologies to ensure every small hand-crafted batch is delivered with satisfaction.
We are a very small team, that is integrated with various skills and knowledge. We love to work together in the production facility. Small batch, handcrafted Peri Peri sauce. You can never make it alone and have to choose your team very carefully, teamwork is one of the most important aspects of quality products.
As far as we know, we are also the only company globally that manufactures a plain Peri Peri sauce, this is a Peri Peri fragrant sauce with no chillies, you get the same flavours, and the same consistency but no burn. It took us a long time to get the product to perfection and have seen more sales as we advertise the product. Actually, Children love this Plain Peri Peri sauce!
Soon to launch will be our new fermented Jalapeno sauce! This is going to be another winner in the South African market.
We keep it simple, small batch and handcrafted. For example, we only manufacture 200 bottles per batch and to dive deeper into that, every chilly is selected by hand, and inspected individually. One requires a lot of focus to be persistent on quality.
We have received another shipment from China this week with new equipment that is going to level up our game in the market and look from an efficiency point of view much better, yet keeping our quality control on the same standard.
Develop an incredible product, use feedback to deliver and balance out where you missed it, then put your goals up, see them every day, and believe the best is yet to come.
There are many days when one can easily be discouraged, these are only minor in the timeline compared to the big goals. Remain focused and keep your faith.
We have expanded our consumer circle utilizing introduction with the plain Peri Peri, as there are only so many people who love hot sauce. We offer a Plain, Mild, Hot and soon Jelepeno fermented sauce. This allows more consumers to buy into our range.
The hot sauce market in South Africa is still small and there is enough room for more companies to start up.
Absolutely, this is one of the goals, global expansion. We have plans to move into the global market but first, we want to fully saturate the South African market, then the African continent and then move there step by step. Competing globally is a long, slow process, however, we are definitely going there.
As of this moment, only in South Africa, if there is anyone in Namibia to stock our products, please reach out to be the first!
We would love to be in touch with retailers across South Africa to take our product onboard. We have also seen great success with Deli's and Butcheries which are currently stocking our products.
So currently we have only one type of spice, sold in a shaker. This is a very well-developed South African spice, super fragrant with notes of sweet honey and a slight taste of Worcester sauce that is complimented by various spices to add the profile of the trade route ingredients.
We have plans to expand to a wide spice range very soon. This all takes time and market research to deliver and superior quality product to the market, something that will stand out.
Contact person: Wayne van Zyl
Email Address: office@vascodagamaperiperi.com
Contact Number: +27 (0)63 754 0421
Website: https://vascodagamaperiperi.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vascodagamaperiperi
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vasco.da.gama.peri.peri/
This historic fruit and wine farm dates back to 1692 and has one of the best-preserved plaaswerwe (farmyards) in the Wastern Cape (area in South Africa). It was authentically reimagined by its current owners more than a decade ago to celebrate the history – and future.
Today, Babylonstoren is cherished for its magnificent formal garden, inspired by the historic Company’s Garden in Cape Town that supplied the spice fleets sailing between Europe and Asia with fresh fruit and vegetables in the 17th and 18th centuries. Each of the 300-plus plant varieties of the garden is edible or has medicinal value. The garden boasts a living library of historic rose and fruit cultivars, a splendid succulent collection, a kitchen garden planted with a variety of seasonal vegetables, thousands of clivias, a healing garden, exotic cycad collection and Spice House where tropical plants thrive. Every single aspect of Babylonstoren – including the contemporary Farm Hotel and Garden Spa, the Farm Shop, Winery, Meat Room, farm-to-fork restaurants, Scented Room and Bakery – is led by the ever-changing tapestry and botanical diversity of the garden.
We believe that the best meat and charcuterie comes not only from processing techniques and curing, but also from the origin of meats used. To this end, we have our own prised herd of Chianina cattle at Babylonstoren. Our small herd of Chianina cattle is farm-reared and fed entirely on a grass diet on the farm and contains no hormones or antibiotics. Our butchery specifically focus on Chianina meat and the ageing thereof.
The meat of Chianina cattle is dense with natural fat marbling and has a thin outer coating of fat, which helps to extend the ageing process. Our Chianina meats are aged between 28 and 42 days in our own Himalayan salt room lined with pink salt tiles.
Another unique aspect of the Babylonstoren way is that we host workshops on making and curing your own charcuterie at home. We open our butchery to other meat enthusiasts and freely share Babylonstoren’s delicious charcuterie techniques and recipes to those who want to learn. From mixing spices and pickling pork for charcuterie, after which guests are invited to indulge in a delicious meat lover’s lunch. The workshops are always fully booked, and new charcuterie workshops for 2023 have already been scheduled.
Our Chianina Bresaola, Chianina salami, Coppa, Coriander ham (which also won the trophy for best meat product at this year’s awards!) and well as the Fattoria Ham are all exceptional products of which we’re very proud.
Other noteworthy meat delicacies from our Meat Room include our new lamb espetada, made from lamb rump that’s skewered to ensure an even and effortless braai experience. We’re also working on unique new products for the upcoming festive season, which includes a range of quality water buffalo products (including the most delicious water buffalo wors!)
As with everything on the farm, our butchery team believes in honouring products in their most natural form. This means our manufacturing process may take longer, but the end-results are always of a superior quality. All our meat comes into the butchery as a whole carcass on the bone and is cured on our premises by our trusted blockmen and –women. As far as possible, we source all our fresh ingredients from the farm. “The carcasses have much more meat and much less fat than other breeds I’ve worked with,” says Jaco Koegelenberg, Babylonstoren’s butcher about the Chianina meat. “Being a butcher is all about appreciating the carcass you’re given and putting thought into how you’re going to use every single part.”
The farm and our privilege to be able to rear our own cattle is a major element in ensuring quality products to our clients.
Customer feedback we’ve received is that you definitely can’t go into your local supermarket and buy yourself Babylonstoren’s Chianina meat. It’s been described by many as the tastiest type of beef they’ve ever tasted. All a Chianina steak needs is a quick tap on a hot grill. Which is exactly the treatment it gets at Babel, Babylonstoren’s signature restaurant.
Although we only service our local South African market, we like to include flavours and techniques from across the globe in our charcuterie, especially. “We borrow some of their techniques and make it our own using local ingredients,” says Selvyn Jacobs, charcuterie whizz at Babylonstoren.
We also love showing our own traditional recipes to the many international visitors who frequent the farm and South Africa. Offering an international guests their first taste of real South African biltong or droëwors gives us great pleasure, and we like to think that our own South African cured meat delicacies measure up very well to the charcuterie of the world.
At Babylonstoren, we strive to always learn and grow and improve our offerings. We’re already working on a few exciting creations for the upcoming festive season, including a delicious tri-colour crusted pepper fillet, as well as a hosting hamper containing many of our Aurora award-winning charcuterie.
Email Address: enquiries@babylonstoren.com
Contact Number: +27 (0)21 863 3852
Website: https://www.babylonstoren.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/babylonstoren
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/babylonstoren