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Georg Manzeneder is a retired dairy expert from Steyr, Austria, who now enjoys travelling the world to share his knowledge with small dairies as a member of the Association of Artisan Dairy Processing. In 2021, he came to share his expertise in dairy processing with SAT for the first time. Since then, SAT's dairy in Vianzi, Morogoro has not only produced fresh milk and yogurt, but also a range of cheeses such as Gouda, Feta, Mozzarella, and Cheddar.
Cheese is not traditionally part of Tanzanian cuisine and remains a niche product, yet interest in international foods, including cheese, is steadily growing. While cheese is still primarily enjoyed by tourists and expatriates seeking familiar flavors, it’s also gaining appeal among Tanzanians who are open to new culinary experiences or have developed a taste for it while living abroad. As a result, cheese is becoming increasingly available in hotels, restaurants, and even supermarkets and specialty shops in urban areas.
During Georg's recent visit in November 2024, he developed butter and fruit yogurt with SAT staff. In this exclusive interview, Georg shares what motivates him and his experiences working with dairy in Tanzania.
What inspired you to share your dairy expertise in Tanzania?
I saw the documentary The Milk System in a cinema in Austria. It critically examines the dairy industry, showing how a Swedish dairy corporation exports powdered milk to Africa, selling it cheaper than local fresh milk. I wondered if this was also happening in Tanzania. Thus, I wrote an e-mail to the Austrian organization Nachhaltige Landwirtschaft Ostafrika (NLO). This is how the contact with SAT was established. I received a message from SAT that they were actually looking for an expert to support their dairy. Of course, I was very interested and soon started gathering equipment needed for producing dairy products. Just before Christmas 2021, I arrived in Tanzania for the first time, and we got the machines running. We started with fresh milk and plain yogurt. During my subsequent visits, we introduced other products, including various cheeses.
What challenges did you encounter when teaching cheese-making in a Tanzanian context?
The biggest challenge is that people here aren’t very familiar with the different types of cheese and don’t know what they should taste like. It takes time for people to develop a taste for the cheese. But the team at the dairy is doing a great job now.
How do you see these cheeses fitting into Tanzanian diets?
I wouldn’t necessarily aim to integrate cheese into traditional Tanzanian diets. Instead, I would mainly focus on finding customers in hotels and restaurants.
Why did you choose Gouda, Feta, Mozzarella, and Cheddar in particular?
Some of the cheese types were requested by SAT. But the Gouda, in a way, was an accident. We initially planned to make a cream cheese, but on the first day, there was a power outage. We had to act quickly, and since I had cultures and rennet with me, we decided to make Gouda, which is easier to manage with cooling issues.
However, in this context, it is important for me to mention that the milk quality is better than the milk you usually get in Europe. The milk of these naturally kept, free-ranging cows has an antibacterial effect for six hours before it starts souring if it isn’t refrigerated. This is crucial when the fresh milk is transported to the dairy by the pastoralists in metal cans on motorcycles. Apart from that, the milk is also richer in fat, protein, and trace elements.
During this visit you produced butter and flavored yogurt. How did it go?
We made butter and yogurt with fresh pineapple and mango. The mango yogurt turned out especially well, given the abundance of mangoes available right now. With pineapple, the fruit’s fibers remain a challenge, so we’re working on refining them to achieve a smoother consistency.
What are your hopes for the future of SAT's dairy production?
Milk production here fluctuates with the seasons. During peak production, some of the milk still needs to be sold to a Tanzanian dairy company. I hope that soon SAT is able to process all the milk at the dairy. We’re currently testing various products to see what works best with customers' preferences, but in the future, I think we’ll need to specialize in certain products.
As someone with many years in the dairy industry, what excites you most about introducing these products to Tanzania?
I travel worldwide, and I truly enjoy developing quality dairy products. I feel like I gain more from this experience than I give – and I don’t mean financially.
Thank you, Georg, for sharing your insights and experiences with us.
We invite you to visit the SAT Organic Shops in Kilakala, Tushikamane Center or in Kingalu Market to try our new dairy products – whether you're curious to explore new flavors or looking for a familiar taste of home.