This history dates back to October 1898 when farmers in the district of Weenen, Natal, held a meeting at Mooi River to discuss the establishment of a butter factory. At the follow-up meeting it was decided that the company would be called Natal Creamery Ltd and at the next meeting the co-operative principles were accepted. Due to the absence of proper legal channels to register a co-operative, the co-operative was registered under the Natal Companies Act in 1899, and H Blaker was appointed first chairman.

In the same year, Joseph Baynes started the first butter factory in Natal on his farm Nel’s Rust and entered into a short-lived partnership with Natal Creamery. He functioned independently until his retirement, when Natal Creamery bought the controlling shares in Joseph Baynes Ltd and Nel's Rust Dairies in 1920.

In 1901 the first reference is made to Model Dairy as a partnership between Natal Creamery and Joseph Baynes Ltd for the marketing of fresh milk in Durban. This partnership broke up in October 1901 and milk distribution by Natal Creamery commenced in Pietermaritzburg in May 1902. During 1903 milk was dispatched to Johannesburg on a daily basis and in November 1903 Natal Creamery decided to investigate the Johannesburg milk industry. In March 1906 Natal Creamery took over the Johannesburg Milk Supply Company Ltd. Heilbron Government Creamery was established in December 1908.

Natal Creamery was registered under the Co-operative Societies Act of 1922 in June 1923 and by 1932 it was operating in 32 centres countrywide. In 1943 the operation of a hundred percent co-operative style system was approved and the name of Natal Creamery Ltd was changed to National Co-operative Dairies Limited (NCD).

Clover S.A. (Pty) Ltd was established as an operational company by NCD in 1994 and during 1997 Clover Holdings Limited was formed to act as a holding company for Clover.

The conversion of NCD from a co-operative to a public company, as well as a name change to Clover Industries Limited (CIL), was approved during a series of special general meetings in November 2003. The dynamics incorporated in CIL in respect of ordinary shares exercising control and preferential shares being freely tradable, opened a new era for the Clover Group. Clover Holdings Limited was unbundled in 2004 and at present CIL is the holding company of Clover S.A., South Africa's largest dairy company and one of the leading manufacturers and marketers of food products in Southern Africa.

With a turnover of R6 billion and a staff complement of 6 523, Clover collects a significant percentage of South Africa's milk, processes it in 12 factories and distributes its range of well-known dairy and related products through 23 national distribution depots and 7 large agents.