Business

The man behind South Africa’s biggest dairy company

Kirsten Minnaar • 2 January 2026

Over 100 years ago, Joseph Baynes, along with a group of farmers, formed what would go on to become South Africa’s biggest dairy, Clover.

Today, not only is Clover one of the most recognisable businesses in the country, but it also owns some of South Africa’s most popular food brands.

Joseph Baynes was born in Yorkshire, England, in 1842. At the age of eight, he came to the colony of Natal with his brother and father, a Byrne settler.

By 1868, he inherited the family’s farm, Nel’s Rust, when his father remarried. He spent the next few decades expanding the farm, which eventually grew to a 24,000-acre estate, Baynesfield.

He proceeded to use this land for pioneering, innovative agriculture that involved promoting cattle dipping to combat East Coast Fever.

Baynes also modernised the dairy industry, which saw the commercial expansion of butter and cheese manufacturing, as well as timber, sheep, poultry, and crop production.

This particular venture started in 1898, when a group of farmers met at Mooi River to discuss the establishment of a butter factory. At follow-up meetings, the name Natal Creamery was approved, and they agreed to establish a co-operative.

The following year, Baynes started the first butter factory in Natal on Nel’s Rust. At the time, however, there were no proper legal channels to register a co-operative yet.

Instead, Natal Creamery was registered under the Natal Companies Act, and H. Blaker was appointed the first Chairman.

In 1901, the first reference to a partnership for the marketing of fresh milk in Durban was established between Natal Creamery and Baynes.

The Model Dairy partnership lasted until October 1901, and in 1902, Natal Creamery began distributing milk from Pietermaritzburg.

The Natal Creamery milk distribution business expanded to Johannesburg, and since milk was being distributed daily, they decided to investigate the business opportunities of the Johannesburg milk industry.

By 1906, the Natal Creamery became so successful that it took over the Johannesburg Milk Supply Company. Two years later, the Heilbron Government Creamery was established.

In 1923, the Natal Creamery was registered under the Co-operative Societies Act. Two years later, in 1925, Baynes passed away, leaving his Baynesfield estate to the people of South Africa.

By 1932, Natal Creamery was operating in 32 centres countrywide. Natal Creamery was converted to a co-operative called National Co-operative Dairies in 1934 and continued to trade as a co-operative until 2003.

Aquisitions and expansion

In 1994, Clover South Africa was officially established. The next year, Clover and Compagnie Gervais Danone (Danone) formed a joint venture.

In the late 1990s, Clover Holdings was established to act as a holding company for Clover, and Danone and Clover formed the Danone Clover joint venture.

National Co-operative Dairies converted from a co-operative into a public company in November 2003, adopting the name Clover Industries.

This transition, together with changes that allowed ordinary shares to exercise control while preferential shares became freely tradable, marked a new era for the group.

During this period, Clover and Danone formed the Clover Danone Beverages joint venture, and Clover Holdings was unbundled in 2004.

Clover Industries thus became the new holding company of Clover, one of South Africa’s largest branded consumer goods companies, the country’s leading dairy producer, and a major manufacturer and marketer of food products.

In 2005, Hosken Consolidated Investments acquired a 25.1% stake as Clover’s B-BBEE partner, followed in 2006 by the formation of Clover Fonterra Ingredients in partnership with New Zealand’s Fonterra.

By 2007, Hosken had increased its ordinary shareholding to 34.9%, and Clover purchased 39.8% of Danone’s shares in Clover Danone Beverages, after which the company was renamed Clover Beverages.

In 2008, Danone Clover acquired a 70% interest in Mayo Dairy, and in 2009, the company underwent a deconsolidation and recapitalisation.

In 2010, Clover sold its 45% shareholding in Danone Clover to Group Danone. Clover Industries underwent a capital restructuring, removing the condition that only milk producers may hold ordinary shares.

The company de-linked the ordinary share from the milk supply and repurchased 34.9% of its ordinary shares from Hosken.

Preference shares were converted to debt-only instruments, and Clover Industries was listed on the main board of the JSE Limited on 14 December 2010.

A South African dairy empire

In 2011, Clover completed the buy-out of the non-controlling interest in Clover Beverages Limited and subsequently transferred the non-alcoholic beverages business to Clover.

Growth accelerated in 2012, with the company acquiring minority interests of 45% in Clover West Africa, 30% in Clover Botswana, and 49% in Clover Manhattan.

It also made the full acquisition of Real Juice Co Holdings from AVI Limited and the purchase of Butlers Cheese’s assets.

In 2013, Clover expanded its beverage portfolio through the formation of the Clover Waters joint venture, in which it held a 70% stake and Nestlé a 30% stake.

This strengthened its association with global brands such as Nestlé Purelife and Nestea and opened opportunities in the sub-Saharan market.

The following year, Clover Futurelife was established as a joint venture focused on functional, nutritional dairy-based products.

The Real Beverages Company – a wholly-owned Clover subsidiary – acquired Dairybelle’s UHT milk manufacturing, marketing and distribution business effective 1 December 2014.

Expansion continued in 2015 as The Real Beverages Company acquired Dairybelle’s yoghurt business.

Clover, through its subsidiary Clover MilkyWay, acquired the entire Nkunzi MilkyWay operation, a facility specialising in producing dairy products for Woolworths.

In May 2016, Clover and Good Hope International Beverages SA formed Clover Good Hope, a new company that acquired Good Hope’s entire soya milk business, with Clover SA holding a 51% stake.

In 2017, Clover established Olive Pride, which provided the company with an entry into the olive and olive oil business.

Clover also established Dairy Farmers of South Africa to enable the company to continue its strategy of developing higher-margin, value-added products while supporting our producers’ volume growth goals.

Today, Clover is not only the biggest dairy producer in South Africa, but also the largest in Africa. It also owns some of South Africa’s most popular food brands.

These include Tropica, Super M, Manhattan Ice Tea, Nolac, and Aquartz Mineral Water. Clover’s dairy and non-dairy products can be found across the country in South Africa’s biggest retail stores, such as Checkers, Spar and Pick n Pay.