Shaw River Buffalo Cheese returns after a three-year hiatus

Once Australia’s best-known buffalo cheesemaker, Shaw River disappeared three years ago. But now they are back.

Southwest Victorian cheesemaker Andrew Royal lives up to his surname — he’s made first-class fromage fit for the Queen.

During Queen Elizabeth II’s final tour of Australia, Shaw River Buffalo Cheese was served up for the late monarch — one of many accolades the Yambuk-based brand earned over two decades.

But three years ago, Shaw River stopped pumping out buffalo mozzarella and yoghurt at the tail-end of the Covid era.

Now Mr Royal has made a comeback, dusting off the cheesemaking equipment at the factory between Warrnambool and Portland.

“Shaw River was the first buffalo cheese brand in Australia back in the 1990s and it really made a splash with top restaurants in Melbourne and Sydney,” he said.

“The brand received quite a few awards and was in all the gourmet food guides and magazines. It started off as a novelty but then people began to appreciate how versatile buffalo dairy produce is.”

Shaw River Buffalo cheesemaker Andrew Royal. Picture: Nicole Cleary

The original water buffalo herd were located at Purrumbete, near Camperdown in 1996, before being transferred four years later to a purpose-built cheese manufacturing plant on the banks of the Shaw River at Yambuk.

Plans are afoot to have a new buffalo herd on site, with milk currently being sourced from Murray Bridge based farmers Corey and Mollie Jones.

The Jones family runs a 400-strong herd as part of its South Australian Buffalo Company brand, established a decade ago.

“It’s been a huge job to get the factory back in order. The floor needed upgrading, the boiler hadn’t been operational for a few years and needed an upgrade,” Mr Royal said.

“And that’s just on the inside. On the outside, I had three snakes at the front door on my first day — but after months of work, it’s good to be back in business.”

The original buffalo herd on the Shaw River property back in the 2000s.