Brand SA has brought back the popular competition, which calls on South Australians to vote for one of three toasties made with SA produce ahead of CheeseFest, held in Rundle Park on November 18-19.
The winning toastie will be crowned the 'Brand SA Toastie' and sold at the festival, while six lucky voters will win two general passes to the event and a CheeseFest tote bag filled with local products.
Voting starts today, South Australians asked to choose between:
- 'The Buzz' featuring Woodside Cheese Wrights Triple Cream Brie, Beerenberg Caramelised Onion Jam and The Queen's Cut Honey.
- The Classic' featuring La Casa Del Formaggio Mozzarella and Skara Smallgoods Ham.
- Get Pickled' featuring Beston Foods Gouda and the new Spring Gully Elote Corn Relish.
The cheesy competition is being brought back to life by Malinauskas Labor Government agency Brand SA, which is partnering with CheeseFest 2023.
The event attracts the country's top cheesemakers along with leading winemakers, distillers, food producers and chefs.
More than 70 local producers will feature at this year's CheeseFest, representing the best in cheese, food, wine, beer and gin across the State.
Brand SA will also sponsor a festival-first 'SA Regions Bar' to showcase beverages from 12 South Australian regions to hundreds of interstate and international visitors.
Seppeltsfield (Shiraz), Kangaroo Island Brewery (Beer), Watsacowie Brewing Co (Vodka Seltzers) and Flinders Food Co (Native Sodas) are among the iconic and emerging South Australian companies featured at the new bar.
Both initiatives build on Brand SA's new campaign, 'Buy SA. For SA.', which encourages shoppers to buy local rather than interstate or overseas products to help generate hundreds of millions of dollars in support for South Australian businesses.
Dairy is now Australia's third largest agricultural industry, with South Australia contributing nearly 6 per cent of Australia's total milk production and its dairy industry generating revenue of $690 million in 2021-22.
SA's dairy industry produces around 10,000 tonnes of cheese annually, worth an estimated $69 million. In 2021-22, South Australia exported 5,000 tonnes of cheese, worth $31 million, highlighting growing global demand for the State's local produce.
Toastie votes can be cast by visiting brand.sa.gov.au/CheeseFest – voting closes Friday, November 10 – and event tickets are available at cheesefest.com.au.
As put by Nick Champion
Few things top a cheese toastie – especially one filled with premium South Australian produce.
I'm going to have a hard time deciding which one to vote for, so I might just have to try them all for myself.
We brought back Brand SA to put local products front of mind and this event provides a popular platform to help people connect with our food and beverage industry while driving economic growth.
As put by CheeseFest event director Kris Lloyd AM
We are delighted to partner with Brand SA as a major sponsor of CheeseFest 2023. This important collaboration has a primary focus of coming together to shine a light on the great work of the South Australian food and drinks sectors, and beyond.
All services engaged for the event are local, including the South Australian music acts which will play on the Brand SA Main Stage, a commitment CheeseFest has made since its inception in 2006 to support South Australian businesses.
We encourage South Australians to come out and support this rich and diverse festival, which brings our community together in good spirits for a fabulous celebration of all things delicious produced in South Australia.
As put by Seppeltsfield Barossa head of sales and marketing Lauren Mudge
We're excited to have the opportunity to showcase Seppeltsfield Wines at The SA Regions Bar at CheeseFest and represent the Barossa region with our award-winning Grenache. CheeseFest is a wonderful showcase of South Australia's world class cheese, food and wine producers.
