Farmer News
1 June, 2025
Shaw River Buffalo cheese is back
CHIEF cheese maker Andrew Royal was lured from a job with Bega, back to the factory he knows and loves. Mr Royal was part of the original family business until Covid and other business pressures saw the doors close.
The Shaw River Buffalo Cheese business ran Australia’s first herd of milking Water Buffalo and manufactured premium quality cheeses and yoghurt from pure Water Buffalo milk.
The original Water Buffalo herd was located at ‘Purrumbete Homestead’ near Camperdown in 1996 before being transferred to the newly established cheese manufacturing plant at Yambuk – 10 minutes west of Port Fairy, in 2000.
The factory rests on the banks of the ‘Shaw River’ in the small coastal hamlet – thus the name.
The factory sat unused until Melbourne entrepreneur Ignatious and his wife Maliali purchased the factory and a parcel of land around the factory from the Haldane family.
“I was contacted by the owners, while I was still working at Bega. They basically said that if I didn’t take the factory on, then they would keep the factory shut and sell it off. I was lucky enough to have set the original factory production line up – the flow of the equipment – so I already knew the lay of the land when it comes to this factory – and I have remained in the industry – so I still had a lot of industry contacts – so I was ecstatic when asked to get back into it,” Mr Royal said.
The connection to Yambuk and the surrounding area runs very deep for Mr Royal.
So the opportunity to bring the factory back into production and get back to doing what he loves most, was a reasonably easy decision.
It has taken six months of work to get the factory to a position where it is right to start cheese production. Mr Royal explained that there are lots of regulatory audits and permits to get through before any production can be made.
While there are no Buffalo on site now, the Buffalo milk is acquired from a producer in South Australia to allow production to resume in May 2025.
As for the forward plan, Mr Royal said he plans to bring back the soft cheeses first – the Shaw River Mozzarella, Farcita, Panir, Buffetta and the Natural Yoghurt - then the harder cheeses – like the Shaw River Lady Julia and the Annie Baxter.
Apart from getting the factory back to a point where cheese production can resume – the business requires retail outlets and hospitality venues to use the products – so markets had to be built and set up prior to production.
Shaw River Cheese will be available for purchase from the General Store in Yambuk, Pronto’s in Warrnambool, IGA in Port Fairy and Koroit and there has been great support from local food businesses like Coffin Sally Pizzeria, Bojangles, Conlans and the Victoria Hotel, among others.
“The support for the brand has been great – unbelievable really – people know the products and the response has been very humbling – I am just lucky enough to be doing what I love – it’s just great to see it all coming together.”
At this point Mr Royal has completed most of this work himself but is really looking forward to a time when he can work with a team.
He envisages a time, like in the past, where members of staff become work family and “you know the families and the kids, and they are local and form part of our community – a place where people belong and connect.”
“We haven’t got the pub going yet and that’s been hard. Our community used to gather there, catch up and support one another. Since Covid and the loss of the pub, we have lost a bit of our connection and I want that back. I want to be able to sponsor the local cricket side because I know everyone in it! I want to see our town vibrant and thriving, and I hope I can bring a bit of that back with the factory.”