The Qualité Award is the only mark of excellence for dairy products in South Africa, and is awarded to products of exceptional quality only, namely SA Champion award winners that have obtained a specific minimum point on the international scorecard. Only a very limited number of products obtain this prestigious award and are allowed to display the distinctive logo for the ensuing year, which is supported by the main retailers in South Africa.
All Qualité awarded products are judged by an independent panel of five senior judges to determine the overall winner. The product scoring the highest average point is announced the SA Dairy Product of the Year.
The SA Dairy Championships consists of 10 categories and just over 100 classes for end products in the processing line of the dairy industry. The winner in each class of the SA Dairy Championships is awarded the title of SA Champion.