Pretoria, 24 July 2026, on the eve of Lamb Champs Pretoria 2026, participating farmers, partners and guests gathered at the annual Lamb Champs farmers’ dinner, where one of the biggest announcements in the history of the competition was made: the launch of the Lamb Champs Invitational.
The first Lamb Champs Invitational will take place in Pretoria on 31 October 2026 and will see South Africa take on Namibia in a new international head-to-head lamb tasting competition.
The Invitational marks the next phase in the growth of Lamb Champs from a proudly South African competition into an international platform for premium lamb, family farmers, food culture and agricultural excellence.
“Lamb Champs started in Pretoria, and tonight we are announcing the next chapter from Pretoria,” said Francois Rossouw, founder of Lamb Champs and CEO of Saai. “The Invitational will do for sheep farmers what the Ryder Cup did for golf and what world-class event promoters did for darts: it will take a traditional industry, package it with rivalry, pride and showmanship, and place the farmers at the centre of the arena.”
The format will be simple and dramatic: South Africa vs Namibia, with each country represented by a team of ten farmers. The competition will be judged on a head-to-head basis, with each matchup contributing to the final national result.
South Africa’s team will be selected as follows:
The South African team captain will be announced at Lamb Champs Pretoria.
“This is not just another lamb competition,” Rossouw said. “It is the beginning of an international agricultural sporting property. We want farmers to become national heroes, we want consumers to understand the quality behind the product, and we want lamb to take its rightful place as one of the most exciting and premium food experiences in Southern Africa.”
The announcement was made during the traditional farmers’ dinner before the flagship Lamb Champs Pretoria event, which takes place tomorrow at Harlequins Rugby Club.
The City of Tshwane’s Executive Mayor, Nasiphi Moya, welcomed the farmers to the city and described Lamb Champs as one of Tshwane’s proudest agricultural and cultural events.
Mayor Moya said Tshwane has a special relationship with Lamb Champs, as the event started in the city and has grown into the anchor event of the national series. She compared Lamb Champs to major cultural festivals hosted by other South African cities, saying that where those festivals combine theatre and visual arts, Tshwane adds authentic cuisine as an art form- with farmers as the artists on display.
She also welcomed the participation of emerging farmers, saying their presence shows what can be achieved when there is real investment in farmer development.
Lamb Champs Pretoria 2026 will host 110 of South Africa’s top sheep farmers from across the country. The event is regarded as the flagship event in the Lamb Champs calendar and one of the largest lamb tasting competitions in the Southern Hemisphere.
The new Lamb Champs Invitational will now extend that platform beyond South Africa’s borders.
“Namibia is the perfect first international opponent,” Rossouw said. “The country has world-class sheep farmers, a proud agricultural tradition, and a natural rivalry with South Africa. On 31 October, it will no longer only be about which farmer produces the best lamb. It will be about which country takes the trophy.”
The Lamb Champs Invitational will form part of the broader Lamb Champs vision to grow the lamb category, celebrate family farmers, connect consumers with the people behind their food, and create a new international stage for agricultural excellence.
