Caribbean sun shines on Northern Irish cheese

Fivemiletown Creamery, Northern Ireland's original specialist in handcrafted cheese, is now supplying its unique and multi-award winning range of traditional Irish Boilie cheese pearls to three of the biggest supermarkets in the Caribbean.

The company has won its first business from Caribbean Trading Ltd one of the biggest food and drink wholesalers in the Caribbean, for the supermarkets in Barbados. It is supplying retail tubs of marinated Boilie cheese.

The breakthrough contract for the creamery's Boilie goat's cheese range follows an approach from the Cheese Cellar in London, the leading UK speciality cheese business. The Cheese Cellar has a longstanding relationship with the creamery.

Fivemiletown's Dominic Haynes says: "The initial lead came from Val Dixon at the Cheese Cellar. She was attracted by the product, its eye-catching packaging and the shelf-life of the new Boiiie range of goat's cheese pearls. She thought it would be the perfect product for Caribbean Trading Ltd, their agent in this market.

"We followed the lead and presented the range to the client, who sampled the cheese, liked it and listed it for the coming months. We are delighted and very excited by the business opportunity presented in Barbados by such an important and influential business as Caribbean Trading.

Caribbean Trading was formed in 1990 by Jonathan Hickling, an experienced food and drink professional in the region. The company provides a broad range of food and drink products across the Caribbean and has close links with major supermarkets and smaller retailers.

"The island has a huge tourism industry as well as a strong domestic marketplace interested in premium food from the UK and Ireland. Boilie cheese pearls are extremely versatile and delicious as an ingredient for cooking pasta and other convenience meals and also for use in salads."

Boiliecheese pearls are traditionally hand-made and marinated in herbs and peppercorns in a golden, garlic infused oil that gently flavours the cheese and conserves its natural goodness. In addition to the original marinated cheese pearls, Boilie is available with two tasty fillings - basil pesto and tomato and herb.

The pearls are based on a traditional Irish recipe dating from the 1920s, when the cheese was hand made by a farming family in county Cavan in the Republic of Ireland.

Established in 1898, Fivemiletown Creamery is among the oldest Irish creameries and one of the first in NorthernIreland. The creamery is a farmer owned co-operative which sources milk from a network of 60 dairy farmers, mostly based in the lush pastures of counties Tyrone and Fermanagh.

The creamery currently employs around 50 people and has a team of experienced cheesemakers, who have been handcrafting cheese for over 40 years. The company has been exporting dairy products, initially creamy butter, since 1900. It now focuses on the production of soft cheeses for retailers and foodservice organisations in the UK, Ireland and other parts of Europe.