WHY?

South Africa produces over 3.4 billion litres of milk annually, yet rural cow owners remain largely excluded from this formal supply chain.

The Way We Work

While commercial dairy farms dominate production, rural communities are

home to hundreds of thousands of cows

— representing a vast, untapped opportunity for inclusive growth and food security.

According to the latest industry reports, South Africa’s unprocessed liquid milk production is forecast to grow by 2% in 2025, driven by declining feed costs and increased consumer demand USDA Foreign Agricultural Service. However, this growth is concentrated in established dairy regions, leaving rural areas underserved. The country has approximately 1.4 million cows outside the formal dairy sector, many of which are owned by smallholders and communal farmers (Visser Et al.). These cows are often underutilized due to lack of cold chain infrastructure, training, and market access.

CoolMilk addresses this gap

by enabling cow owners

to safely chill and store milk using solar-powered Rapid Chilling Centres (RCC).

What the RCC does...

This technology allows rural producers to meet processor-grade standards — including butterfat %, protein %, bacterial count, and somatic cell count — and earn monthly milk cheques based on quality. With veterinary oversight and a structured 4-year training programme, cow owners can evolve into skilled dairy farmers, contributing to national milk supply while improving household income.

By activating even a fraction of South Africa’s rural cow population, CoolMilk could unlock millions of litres of additional milk annually, reduce spoilage, and support the Department of Agriculture’s goals for inclusive agricultural development. The opportunity is not just economic — it’s transformational. Rural cows can become income generators, and rural communities can become hubs of sustainable dairy production.

Sources: milksa.co.za USDA Foreign Agricultural Service

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