Flamingo - Business Industry - Namibia’s lady of cheeses
From Brie with green peppercorns to goat’s milk cheese with chilli and garlic, if you buy locally produced Namibian cheese, there’s a good chance it was made by Daniela Kemp, the cheese lady of Okomitundu.
People who know ‘Dani’, describe the upbeat mother of four as extremely enterprising and very hard-working. From next to nothing she built up a small cheese-making business, developing a local brand that boasts 42 different kinds of boutique cheeses.
Dani’s Garten, based on the farm Okomitundu in the Khomas Hochland, also specialises in home-made salami, kabanossi sausages and smoked meat from zebra, kudu and gemsbok hunted by her husband Cornelius. “We also make farm butter and home-made bread,” Daniela says as she shows us around her charming little factory.
She and her husband run Okomitundu, an exclusive guest and hunting farm just two hours’ drive from Windhoek. When Cornelius takes the visitors out on game drives or hunting expeditions, Daniela makes sure that their every wish is met, while at the same time keeping up a steady output of cheeses.
“We produce about eight kilos of cheese a day,” she says. “Some clients want more, much more. They offer to buy tons, but for now I’m really happy to keep it small and exclusive, focusing on quality rather than mass production.”
That being said, Daniela’s client-base is impressive. Clients include most of the major lodges, restaurants and hotels in the country, such as the famed Gathemann Restaurant and Hotel Heinitzburg in the capital. “You can also find our cheeses in the better supermarkets such as Maerua Super Spar and Woermann Brock,” she explains.
Stephan Hock operates the Immanuel Wilderness Lodge guest farm just outside Windhoek on the way north. He is visiting Okomitundu over the weekend under the guise of stocking up on Daniela’s products for his guests, but also to spend some time with his good friend.
“Dani’s cheese platters are a hit with the tourists,” he says. “They especially appreciate the cheeses because they are produced in Namibia and that makes sense. When I go on holiday in Spain, I want to try Spanish rather than Bavarian wine.”
Among lodge-owners there is also a realisation that the light cheeses fit in better with European diets, instead of traditional Namibian fare, which tends to be heavy on large quantities of red meat.
While she traces her roots back to Germany, Namibia is her home. “My father was a teacher at the Deutsche Höhere Privatschule in Windhoek between 1955 and 1958,” she says. But once back in Germany her parents missed South West Africa, as it was called then, and went back for a second stint. “I was born in November 1964 in Munich and in May 1965 I came here.”
In 1968 the family returned to Germany for good, but regularly visited Namibia. “The first time I came back in 1976, it felt like I had come home! After that I visited almost every year until 1996, when I settled here permanently.”
She started by managing renowned hotels and lodges such as Thüringer Hof, Corona Guest Farm and Okapuka Ranch, before buying a dairy farm north of Otjiwarongo. “That’s when I started in the dairy industry, but my husband and I learned very quickly that you cannot pay a farm off with just milk.”
Undefeated by this setback, the Kemps rented part of another farm nearby and while Cornelius freelanced as a tour guide, Daniela worked at her children’s school. “But I also kept some of the cattle from our farm. Shortly after that, a lady friend gave me a short introduction to cheese-making and I bought her Braunvieh and Jersey cattle and some goats and equipment.”
That’s how she started six years ago. “I would get up at 5.30, take the kids to school and work till 14.00. As soon as I got home, I started making cheese, sometimes till two at night.”
When the business started flourishing, the hectic schedule became murderous and she decided to focus on her cheeses. “As a woman on a farm you need to rely on yourself. My husband was often on tour and of course that’s when things started breaking down. Luckily we had good friends who helped out.
“Not to forget the staff. They stuck with us through the good and the bad times and even moved with us when we came to Okomitundu. They are like family.”
Her five employees help her cater for the many lodges that come knocking on her door. “It’s busy,” she admits. “We milk twice a day and the cheese-making continues all the time. I can’t really take a day off.”
“But it’s very rewarding,” she adds, preparing a delicious platter. “We make 100% bio-cheeses with no harmful additives, and bring something new to the market.“
Eagerly we sample some of Daniela’s mouth-watering product range, such as her innovative red-wine cheese or Dani’s eldler Stinker, and finally we understand why her fan base keeps on growing.
