Gourmet yoghurt range from Northern Irish Clandeboye Estate

Clandeboye Estate, Northern Ireland's only yoghurt producer, has launched a new three-strong gourmet range.

The artisan business, based on a farm near Bangor in county Down, has just introduced a luxury Greek style layered yoghurt initially in three flavours - Lemon Curd, Mango and Strawberry - in 150g pots in a sleeve with nutritional and other essential data.

The gourmet range is the latest development from Clandeboye Estate using milk sourced from the farm's own award winning Holstein and Jersey herd.

"Our milk is taken fresh each morning to our yoghurt makers who handcraft and prepare it in small batches to ensure a delicious consistency and quality," says Bryan Boggs, Clandeboye Estate Yoghurt general manager.

"We saw a developing market opportunity for a luxury yoghurt in a smaller pot and decided to create the new range. Research shows that consumers are trading upwards towards luxury products that also offer richer flavours.

"Feedback has been very positive particularly from supermarkets such as Tesco which is now stocking the new range."

The small company's natural and Greek-style yoghurts arehand made using traditional techniques to provide a rich creamy texture without fat content. The milk is prepared and cultured very gently over a 24-hour period in small batches. This helps to create the exceptional flavour and texture.

The Greek style yoghurt is also made in a traditional way by straining through cheesecloth to create a product with absolutely no thickening additives and therefore no added fats.

The yoghurt began as a farm diversification project driven by Lady Dufferin, the estate owner and a widely known artists. The yoghurt business was launched in 2007 and now produces a range of products including fruit smoothies.

Clandeboye Estate has won a series of awards including UK Great Taste Awards for its products which also include the Heavenly Herd branded family-sized pots.