Ruard Briel takes gold at the 2024 Boerewors Championship!

Ruard Briel. Image supplied

The 37-year-old financial manager emerged victorious after battling it out against nine other finalists from across the nation at the grand finale held in Stellenbosch, Cape Town, on 24 August 2024.

“I am in disbelief! I am absolutely ecstatic,” says the 2024 champion. “It really comes down to getting the boerewors’ flavour profile balanced, combined with belief in myself. I am so happy. Thanks to Shoprite and Checkers for this opportunity.”

Briel walks away with a grand prize of a brand-new Toyota Fortuner 2.4 GD-6 RB AT worth R600,000, R20,000 in cash and the bragging rights of being crowned SA’s boerewors champion. His winning boerewors will be available at Shoprite and Checkers stores nationwide from 6 September 2024 just in time for Heritage Day celebrations.

Second place went to Marthinus Verwey from Bloemfontein, and third place to Jasper Gordon from Strand, who won R50,000 and R30,000 respectively.

Now in its 32nd year, the competition attracted a record number of over 2 300 entries submitted from all corners of the country. The entries were judged through various elimination rounds by the South African Chefs Association (SACA).

The finale saw the top 10 cook and serve their boerewors to a judging panel of food experts that included Zanele van Zyl, Carmen Niehaus, James Khoza, Matthew Howcroft, Martin Kobald, and surprise wildcard judge, former Springbok lock Bakkies Botha.

“It’s a great privilege to be part of this competition, because boerewors brings people together,” says Botha.

Championship Boerewors remains a favourite for Shoprite and Checkers customers, with 5,811,384 kgs sold over the past year – enough to make boerewors rolls for over 55 million people.

That’s 8,274 km of Championship Boerewors, enough to cover the distance from Cape Town to Mumbai, India, or to fill the boots of 19,663 Toyota Fortuner!

The 2024 top 10 Championship Boerewors finalists were: