Fivemiletown Boilie 'a regional gem' among top 20 UK cheeses

Boilie, the unique Irish cow's and goat's cheese pearls from Fivemiletown Creamery in Northern Ireland has been described by The Grocer, Britain's leading retail publication, as 'a regional gem' and among the top 20 UK cheeses.

The Grocer's expert judging panel described Boilie as a "simple yet brilliantly executed idea, which encourages consumers to use cheese more as an ingredient. Boilie already has a fair few regional listings in the mults (multiple retailers), and we think these light and creamy pearls deserve even wider recognition".

The influential endorsement of Boilie cheese pearls feature in the latest issue of The Grocer's highly regarded Dairymen publication, which reports on the latest developments across the UK dairy industry. The Dairymen is the industry's most comprehensive and prestigious publication.

The Grocer judges sampled cheeses from many parts of the UK including the complete range of Fivemiletown Creamery's Boilie, which is available in both cow's and goat's milk variants. In addition to the original Boilie, which is infused with garlic oil and herbs, the product is now available in three filled varieties - cream cheese, basil pesto and sundries tomato and herb.

Kevin McManus, Fivemiletown Creamery's sales manager, says: "It's a marvellous endorsement of the originality and quality of our Boilie cheese by the industry's most important publication. It gives the new Boilie range a tremendous boost as we seek to build sales in Britain and further afield.

"Boilie was created back in the mid-1920s and continues today to be produced lovingly made by hand using the original recipe. The new filled cheese pearls are intended to give meals such as pizza and pasta a deliciously different flavour."

Boilie is produced by Fivemiletown's expert cheesemakers in County Tyrone. The cheese is rooted in Irish tradition - the name Boilie means 'milking place' in Irish.

Founded in 1898 by farmers in the Fivemiletown area, Fivemiletown Creamery remains a farmers' co-operative of around 80 dairy farmers. The creamery has achieved Red Tractor quality accreditation and currently employs 80 people.