[2] Clover's history began in 1898 with a series of meetings among a group of farmers in the lush pastures of the Natal Midlands.

1899 – Joseph Baynes starts the first butter factory in Natal on his farm Nel's Rust.

1901 – The first reference is made to Model Dairy as a partnership between Natal Creamery Ltd and Joseph Baynes Ltd for the marketing of fresh milk in Durban.

2005 – Hosken Consolidated Investments Ltd acquires a 25.1% shareholding in Clover Industries Ltd as a BBBEE partner.

Clover is associated with global brands such as Nestlé Purelife and Nestea which opens up opportunities in the sub-Saharan market.

2014 – Clover Futurelife joint venture is established to launch a functional dairy based product.

BDS SA spokesman Tisetso Magama said that CBC “has operations in Israel’s illegal settlements – both in the occupied Palestinian West Bank and in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights,” adding that “CBC and its subsidiaries own a regional distribution centre in the illegal Israeli Atarot settlement industrial zone, a vineyard near Mount Shifon in the occupied Golan Heights and a dairy farm, as well as offices in the illegal Israeli settlement of Shadmot Mehola in the Jordan Valley – all in violation of international law.”[3] Brimstone Investments, one of the initial consortium members of the deal, pulled out.

[3][4][5] Several trade unions in South Africa were against the approval of the deal: In a joint statement, trade unions such as the General Industries Workers Union of South Africa and Food and Allied Workers Union representing workers at Clover and its subsidiaries, together with their union federation, South African Federation of Trade Unions and Palestinian solidarity organizations in South Africa, “condemned the recent judgment by the Competition Tribunal of South Africa on the takeover of Clover by Israeli-led company, Milco SA.” They cited three main objections to the deal, claiming that “the takeover will have negative consequences for South African workers who will face job losses in the context of an already-struggling economy,” as well as “manipulative, unethical and anti-competitive practices by... the CBC... against which there are adverse findings in Israel,” and claims that the “CBC violation of international law, including UN resolutions and Geneva Conventions and the violation of human rights.”[3] Today, Clover is a branded consumer goods and products group operating in South Africa and other selected African countries in: • The production of dairy and non-alcoholic beverages; • The distribution of chilled and ambient consumer products; and • The sales and merchandising of fast-moving consumer goods Clover was converted from a co-operative society into a public company in 2003.

Clover implemented a capital restructuring on 31 May 2010, which was a milestone in its corporate development and resulted in both economic benefits and voting control vesting in the ordinary shares.