WAL-MART SOURCES GOURMET CHEESE FROM NORTHERN IRELAND

Wal-Mart, the world's biggest retailer, has ordered gourmet cheese from an award winning Northern Ireland co-operative creamery. Fivemiletown Creamery, based in rural County Tyrone, is to supply its branded Oakwood Smoked Cheddar to Sam's Club, a membership only warehouse chain, part of giant US retailer Wal-Mart Stores. Fivemiletown Creamery also supplies its range of gourmet cheeses to ASDA, which is owned by Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart has ordered almost 3,000 deli wheels of Fivemiletown's Oakwood smoked cheddar for sale in America by mid March. Fivemiletown is the first Northern Ireland food company to win business from Wal-Mart in the US. Shawn Baldwin, merchandising vice president at Sam's Club, said: ???This Irish cheddar is one of the best gourmet cheeses available and we continue to see increasing demand from our members in the US for fine foods like this to be incorporated into other dishes or as an appetizer.??? Fivemiletown's sales manager Kevin McManus described the contract as ???a significant development??? for the company which employs 60 people and has won a string of international cheese awards. While the company had won contracts from other US retailers, the Wal-Mart deal was the biggest single shipment to the American retail sector. ???Two years after agreeing our first supply contract with ASDA Northern Ireland we are now dealing directly with the supermarket's parent company in the US. This is a landmark achievement and demonstrates the strength and value of our two-way partnership with ASDA. We appreciate the support and advice provided by ASDA's local buying team throughout the introduction and negotiations. ???We now look forward to furthering our relationship with Wal-Mart, through Sam's Club,??? added Mr McManus. Since it was established in 1898, Fivemiletown Creamery has gained a well-founded reputation for age-old tradition and quality and sources its milk from farms close to its County Tyrone processing plant. The dairy has the facility to produce many varieties of select quality cheeses but has maintained the traditional methods of manufacture. Fivemiletown Creamery's cheddar range comes in various maturities and the mature cheddar won Silver at the prestigious World Cheese Awards as well as being the only cheddar from all of Ireland to have won an award at the British Cheese Awards in 2006. It also produces healthier options including a mature reduced fat cheddar cheese which offers a good strong flavour with a third less fat then regular cheddar. Among its international customers are Galeries Layfayette in France and US supermarkets Safeway and Tony's.