Load-shedding pulls the plug on cheesery
Raising costs of keeping the lights on at the beloved creamery has led to its permanent closure.
With a gentle squeeze of his wife Susan’s hand, Marius Steenkamp watches as two of his beloved goats are driven from his Zesfontein property.
Up until a week ago the owner of The Summit Creamery, Artisanal Cheese and Farmhouse Kitchen had a herd of 50 goats, now there are only two left, waiting to go to their new home soon.
Looking at the empty paddocks Marius merely shrugs, saying that he and Susan were forced to make an unfortunate decision to permanently close their business on March 5.
“Continuous load-shedding coupled with the extreme deterioration of the road leading to The Summit has forced our hand and ultimately broke the camel’s back,” he said.
Born and raised by a sheep farmer, Marius has for the past 17 years been running a successful business making artisanal goat cheese and selling that as well as freshly pasteurised milk directly to the public.
At the end of 2021, Marius and Susan put all their resources together and opened the Farmhouse Kitchen, opening their precious small holding over weekends.
“Marius and I both love cooking, it was an obvious choice to extend our business into a restaurant,” said Susan.
“We catered for small intimate parties as well as families, where mom and dad could kick back and relax while the kids ran, played and interacted with the goats. We were both living our passion and offered our hearts on every plate that left the kitchen.”
Things, however, took a turn for the worst since the beginning of this year, as increased levels of load-shedding led to spoilt milk and rotten cheese.
“Once you start the pasteurisation and cheese-making processes, you cannot stop,” said Marius.
“The slightest interruption in the process will lead to the product being jeopardised.
“As the length of outages progressed I resorted to using the generator, but at a cost of R10 000 to R12 000 per month it became increasingly difficult to offset the costs.”
Pointing to the numerous awards he had received for his wide variety of cheese, Marius said that if the fine balancing act of making cheese and load-shedding was not enough to contend with, they noticed how visitor numbers started dwindling.
“I went through my kitchen with a fine-toothed comb, making sure our food was still on par with my standards,” said Susan.
“I spent hours scouring social media and consumer complaint platforms to see if we have somehow received a negative review, but found nothing.”
Paying careful attention to what vehicles were parked outside their business, Susan soon realised that no ‘normal’ cars could be seen, only high-rise SUVs.
“Given the high rainfall, the penny finally dropped. Only patrons driving 4x4s felt confident enough to visit us given the deteriorating road surface on Rooikat and Ystervark streets,” she said.
“The amount of logistics companies in the area and heavily loaded trucks are wreaking havoc on our streets. Ever-growing potholes have had a direct impact on our patronage.”
Adding sugar to his steaming cappuccino, Marius again looks at his remaining goats.
“This small holding and business were never about making a buck, we have poured our hearts into every product that was made here. Everything was done with love,” he said.
“My goats were our children, our pride and joy but, life has forced our hand. It is time to close this chapter and forge a new one.”
Asked whether he is angry about the circumstances which have led to the closure of his beloved creamery, he simply smiles.
“We did everything we could. Our passion never diminished,” said Marius.
“The failures of our government are to blame, six employees are now unemployed, yet I doubt the powers that be will take responsibility for their actions.
“Wallowing in self-pity has never yielded any positive results. We have cried but a new adventure is already knocking at the door.”
With the knocks of construction taking place, the restaurant is already being converted into flatlets which will soon become available for rental.
“As long as we vow to continue this journey together, we will find another passion to feed our souls,” said Susan.
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