Tyron Adams (31) is the winner of the 2023 Shoprite and Checkers Championship Boerewors competition. The Wellington-born chef was up against nine other finalists from across the country at the grand finale held in Somerset West, Cape Town, on 26 August. 

“I am ecstatic! This was totally unexpected, and I can barely wait to see my boerewors on the Shoprite and Checkers store shelves. It’s been tough couple of years trying to start my own business, especially since Covid hit, but tough times make tough people, and I am lucky to have a group of special people around me that kept me motivated. This is a dream come true for me,” says Adams. 

He walks away with incredible prizes that include a brand-new Toyota Fortuner, R20 000 in cash and the bragging rights of being crowned SA’s boerewors champion.  

Second place went to Eddie Hawkes from Brackenfell, and third place to Gustav Piek from Wellington, who won R50 000 and R30 000 respectively. 

Now in its 31^st year, the competition attracts boerewors makers from all walks of life, with thousands entering each year. The entries were judged through various elimination rounds by the South African Chefs Association (SACA. The top ten cooked their boerewors at the finale for a judging panel of food experts that included Zola Nene, Jeff Schueremans, James Khoza, Zanele van Zyl and Carmen Niehaus. 

Tyon’s winning recipe will be available at Shoprite and Checkers stores countrywide from
8 September 2023 just in time to be the star on the hundreds of braais that will surely be lit across the country for the first Rugby World Cup game. 

Championship Boerewors remains a firm favourite with the supermarkets’ customers. Over the past year enough was sold to make 47.7 million boerewors rolls, using a standard 15 cm piece of boerewors. That is 7 155 km of Championship Boerewors, equal to the length of 71,550 rugby fields! 

With this amount of boerewors, Shoprite and Checkers would be able to supply Stade de France - the largest stadium in France and venue for the finale of the 2023 Rugby World Cup - with a boerewors roll for each of its 80 698 spectators, for 591 games 

The 2023 top 10 Championship Boerewors finalists were: 

• Olivier Kritzinger from Joubertina, Eastern Cape 
• Mshasheni Mabotja from Polokwane, Limpopo 
• Tyron Adams from Wellington, Western Cape 
• Xavier Blaauw from Wellington, Western Cape 
• Connie Viljoen from Richard’s Bay, KwaZulu-Natal 
• Roy Erasmus from Newcastle, KwaZulu-Natal 
• Roland Blaauw from Wellington, Western Cape 
• Gustav Piek from Wellington, Western Cape 
• Yvonne Blaauw from Wellington, Western Cape 
• Eddie Hawkes from Brackenfell, Western Cape