A special story of a
local farming family
A special story of a
local farming family
Since our family arrived in the Indezi Valley half a century ago, it has grown in ways we could never have imagined. It’s been an exciting journey, driven by grit, curiosity and providence. Five generations have the soil of this valley beneath their fingernails and the wind of the Midlands in their hair.
Indezi River Creamery is a story of particular people in a particular place and a faith-fuelled journey into the unknown.
William and Isobel Harris, along with their two children and their extended family, moved from Pretoria to the lush KwaZulu-Natal Midlands in the early ‘70s. William and Isobel (affectionately known as Granny and Grandpa Flower, for their love of gardening) now have great-great grandchildren growing up in the beautiful valley they fell in love with 50 years ago.
One of the early discoveries on the farm was an original water wheel, powered by the rushing waters of the Indezi River, which runs through the valley. Years later we celebrate this piece of family history in our logo. The water wheel is a reminder of a special time and place.
Jimmy and Wendy Harris, son and daughter-in-law, would later receive their own special nicknames: Granny and Grandpa Moo as a nod to the Jersey herd they managed for several decades. Inspired to create magic from their milk in the early ‘90s, they began to experiment in the kitchen with various cheese recipes.
This quickly took off and a small cheesery was soon built for Wendy and her apprentices. From here, a variety of hard and soft cheeses went to farmer’s markets and local delis and coffee shops, in hand-sewn cooler bags. It wasn’t long before the demand for Wendy’s cheeses increased. A bigger facility was built as Bellevigne Cheese took off across the country. The magic needed to spread.
Jimmy and Wendy are well-recognized as some of the early pioneers in artisanal cheesemaking in South Africa. They did a lot to rescue consumers from the lack of choices on deli shelves. Jimmy had boundless creativity and passion, which was brought to life by the capable hands of Wendy, master cheesemaker. True to a family farm, their daughters rolled up their sleeves too, with Barbara heading up operations and Derryn managing the milking herds.
In 2002, Indezi River Creamery was born. Specialising in cow’s and goat’s milk dairy products, it was a new and exciting chapter for the family. With a focus on the catering trade, their products travelled across South Africa on luxury trains and flew around the world in business class.
While our cheese was making waves in kitchens, Jimmy spent a lot of time perfecting the goat’s milk range. He wanted to change the perception of goat’s milk in the country. During this research stage, he developed our long shelf-life goat’s milk, changing the lives of many families for whom conventional dairy is problematic.
Adding goat’s milk yoghurt to our range, as well as butter, and a variety of cheeses, meant that folks could enjoy a full and diverse diet without restriction.
Jimmy passed away in 2008, but his curiosity and innovative spirit lives on and continues to fuel our business to this day. When Wendy retired, she left her own legacy of excellence, attention-to-detail, and faith-filled decision-making. She continues to support our team through prayer and compassion, as well as advice and guidance.
In 2019 the third generation joined Indezi full-time, with Barbara’s daughter and family moving to the farm, just in time to weather the Covid-19 storm together.
Lockdown posed the biggest challenge that we have ever faced. Yet, in the face of it all, our products found new homes across the country as more families and friends grew to enjoy them.
We continue to hold to our values of integrity, creativity and passion as we grow our family business beyond what anyone could have imagined in those early days of farmer’s markets and hand-sewn cooler-bags. Our footprint and range has been carefully curated to bring great dairy to kitchens around the country.
We treasure our small beginnings and are excited about our vision for the future!