Artisan cheese maker extends its product range

Leggygowan Farm, a Northern Irish artisan cheese producer, has added a new semi-hard goat's cheese to its portfolio. Earlier this year the farmhouse cheese business launched Northern Ireland's first goat's blue cheese.

The success of the semi-soft blue cheese, produced from the farm's own herd of almost 100 goats on a 20-acre small holding at Saintfield in County Down, with delis and farm shops encouraged the company to develop a white goat's cheese.

Leggygowan Farm's Adam Kelly, one of three brothers who run the family business, says: "We decided to launch a white goat's cheese because of the very positive feedback that we received when we launched the blue cheese back in March. Indeed many of the independent retailers that we are supplying suggested that we should develop a standard goat's cheese.

"It wasn't a difficult decision for us. We produced the goat's cheese a couple of weeks ago and trialled it at agricultural shows. The response was good and so we decided to push ahead with production using milk from our own herd that includes a number of Nubians.

"We've found that there's a growing demand in Northern Ireland for distinctively Irish farmhouse cheese," he adds.

The small farm diversification business is also supplying its goat's blue cheese to leading chefs in high-end hotels and restaurants and is keen to grow business outside Northern Ireland.

"We've already had a number of approaches through our Facebook page from cheese lovers

"The contacts in Britain and the Republic of Ireland keen to taste our blue cheese in particular. These contacts have led us to consider how best to ensure effective distribution to both of these important markets which have a stronger farmhouse cheese tradition than is the case in Northern Ireland," he says.

Both the blue and white goat's cheeses are produced in 1kg moulds. The blue cheese is matured over a five-week period. The company is to make the cheese available in 5kg blocks soon.

The family has been farming at Leggygowan for three generations and started producing goats cheese in the summer of 2010, launching earlier this year.

"We are constantly trying to expand and improve the range and quality of our cheese and are currently looking at developing goats milk fudge. For those who prefer plain goats milk we also offer cartons of full-fat pasteurised milk," Mr Kelly adds.

The company has also launched a goat's milk soap.