FIVEMILETOWN'S BALLYBLUE CHEESE IN THE RED!

Fivemiletown Creamery's award winning Ballyblue brie cheese has joined the team sheet at Manchester United! ManU fans, VIPs and visitors will now be able to enjoy Fivemiletown's popular blue-veined cheese in the club's Red restaurant at Old Trafford.

The listing at Red restaurant is the latest in a string of new contracts clinched by Fivemiletown Creamery, Northern Ireland's pioneering producer of speciality cheese.

Among other contracts is a deal to supply speciality and cheddar cheese to Shoprite, the Isle of Man's leading supermarket chain.

The products are already on the shelves of the 12-strong chain of stores across the island, a popular choice for Northern Ireland holidaymakers over many years. Virtually the entire range of Fivemiletown cheese will now be available on the island for the first time.

Owen Jones, Fivemiletown Creamery's Business Development Manager in Great Britain, said: "Gaining a listing at Red restaurant is a tremendous endorsement of the superb quality and flavour of our Ballyblue cheese. Our aim is to encourage the caterers to list other products and to win contracts from other football clubs and sporting organisations across the United Kingdom and Ireland.

"What attracted Shoprite to Fivemiletown was the very broad range of cheese that we are now able to offer.

"As well as traditional creamy cheddars, we are able to supply some of the best speciality cheese on the market including Ballybrie, Ballyblue brie, Cooneen goats' and unique marinaded products such our multi award winning Boile and O'Reilly's.

"The contract give us a firm platform for growth in a marketplace which attracts around 300,000 visitors annually to participate in international events including the highly successful TT Races. It means that Fivemiletown cheese is now available in virtually every part of the British Isles."

IoM-owned Shoprite has traded on the Isle of Man (IOM) for almost 40 years and has a longstanding reputation for innovation and creativity in marketing.

Fivemiletown Creamery, based in Co Tyrone, employs 80 people in the handmade production of premium quality soft cheese. It has gained major international awards for quality at events such as the World Cheese Awards, the Nantwich International Cheese Festival and the UK Great Taste Awards.