The beautiful Klein River Cheese Farm in Stanford has been on a mission to become greener and more self-sufficient. While cheese is delicious and absolutely essential in many people’s lives it requires a fair amount of energy to produce. To this end, the owners at Klein River have implemented a number of changes over the past few years and are well on the way towards creating a self-sustainable future. The installation of a new and environmentally friendly boiler has allowed them to improve the overall efficiency of the heating systems needed for the cheese-making process. Refrigeration has also been upgraded to reduce ‘affinage’ energy. In cheese language, affinage is a French term that describes the aging and maturing of cheese.
Making cheese is also water intensive and since water is sourced from a farm dam on the property a decision was made to design a wastewater wetland system in order to recycle this precious commodity back into the environment. 160 indigenous trees have been planted to replace the alien species that have been removed since mid-2015. Other green moves include the feeding of whey byproduct to their cattle, a conscious reduction in the use and recycling of plastics on the Farmstead and at the Picnic Shed and the use of worm farms to create rich, beautiful compost. The Picnic Shed is also sourcing more and more ingredients in-house to reduce the carbon footprint.
Green Farmstead – Green Cheese!
On the 26 October last year a 27 kWh PV solar system was installed which has allowed the farm to save an astounding 15 tonnes of Carbon Dioxide and 15 MWh of power since it’s inception, representing 23 % of all electricity used in the factory and Farmstead! In essence, this means that every 4th wedge of Klein River Cheese you purchase from the store was made by the sun. A greener farmstead promotes locavore values and a more sustainable cheese production.
Klein River Cheeses are available from The Cheese Boutique on the farmstead in Stanford and at speciality stores and deli’s throughout South Africa. Retail stores that stock Klein River are Woolworths, Checkers, Spar and Food Lovers Market. The perfect accompaniment for the beautiful wines produced in the Overberg region and just another one of the reasons why I Love Hermanus.