Northern Ireland's first raw-milk blue cheese

Young Buck, Northern Ireland's first raw-milk artisanal blue cheese, has just been launched by Mikes Fancy Cheese (MFC), a business formed last year with crowd funding support.

Created by experienced cheesemaker Mike Thomson, Young Buck is a Stichelton, unpasteurised blue cheese sourced from milk from a single herd of award-winning Holstein-Friesian cows reared on clover-rich pastures in county Down.

Based at Newtownards, also in county Down, MFC has begun supplying the new cheese that Thomson (28), a graduate of the School of Artisan Food at Welbeck Estate in Nottinghamshire, has developed over the past six months.

Thomson's decision to name the new cheese Young Buck reflects his focus on making a blue cheese that is "cool and unstuffy", particularly for younger consumers.

He gained experience making raw milk red Leicester cheese at Sparkenhoe Farm at Upton, a specialist in award-winning handmade cheese since 2005.

"Ultimately, my ambition is to work on-site at a dairy farm, creating a range of unique but accessible cheese which can be sourced at specialist counters throughout the UK and Ireland," he says. He has already made contact with potential customers and distributors in Britain.

"Feedback from sampling sessions in a leading Belfast high-end deli has been immensely encouraging. A key objective for me will be win listings in Britain from respected specialists such as Neal's Yard," he adds.

Thomson, a qualified social worker, turned to crowdfunding specialist Seedrs to help in funding his set up costs and raised around £80,000 from 100 interested investors, including one in Japan, intrigued by his cheese project. He offered investors 40 per cent of his business.

Banks had turned him down because they not prepared to support such a small artisanal business without collateral.

The investment through Seedrs enabled Thomson to rent and kit-out a small unit in a local business park and to start creating the cheese.

"I opted for a Stichelton because I am passionate about this type of blue cheese. I had made one and developed a HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) system at Sparkenhoe. I had worked at Stichelton, and I loved the complexity of the flavour. I reckoned it was time to start making it in Northern Ireland."