Fivemiletown Creamery wins expert endorsement for quality and safety


Fivemiletown Creamery, the leading Northern Irish speciality cheese and ice cream business, has retained its British Retail Consortium Grade (BRC) A accreditation for outstanding quality products and safe processes.



BRC Grade A is the retail industry's highest level accreditation for food and drink producers and is awarded after a very exacting audit by independent experts of a company's products and production processes.



The creamery, a farmers' co-operative, is now a major supplier of speciality soft cheeses using milk from its network of dairy farmers mostly based in the lush pastures of Tyrone's Clogher Valley.



The co-operative has been processing dairy products successfully since its formation in 1898. It secured its first retail business in Britain in 1901 for creamery butter and has been developing handmade cheese for more than 40 years. It began handcrafting soft cheeses in the 1980s, launching the first blue-veined cheese in Ireland and Europe's first smoked brie.



Peter Dunlop, Fivemiletown Creamery Marketing Manager, commenting on BRC Grade A accreditation, says: "Retaining our Grade A accreditation is an immensely significant endorsement of our business particularly at this time when safety and standards have become such important issues among retailers, both large and small, and their customers.



"They can count on all our products, ingredients and raw materials being produced to the highest specification in accordance with the most rigorous quality and safety standards. All milk from farms is thoroughly vetted and audited by us, to ensure that we provide our customers with high quality products they can rely on," he adds.



BRC accreditation guarantees that full traceability has been adhered to and documented on all the creamery's products and processes. The level of due-diligence carried out from the farms through to processing and delivery is of the highest standard in the food industry.



"Our co-operative structure means that ethical working practices are intrinsically lined to the company's way of life. With our owners being our major suppliers, traceability is at the heart of our business from farm to factory to fridge," he adds.



BRC is the leading trade association representing the whole range of retailing, wholesaling and foodservice establishments from large multiples through to the independent retailer.



Pic caption: Pictured with the BRC Grade A certificate are, right, Guy Simpson, General Manager, and Samantha Munton, Marketing Executive, Fivemiletown Creamery.