Top UK Store Stocks Irish Cheese

Online, February 11, 2011 (Newswire.com) - Harvey Nichols in Leeds has signed a deal for handcrafted cheese from an artisan creamery in the west of Northern Ireland. Shoppers at the store are now able to enjoy award winning speciality cheese handmade at Fivemiletown Creamery in County Tyrone.

The deal with Harvey Nichols represents a very significant breakthrough for the small Northern Ireland co-operative creamery in the north of England marketplace. The retailer is now stocking an extensive range of Fivemiletown's brie, oakwood smoked, goat's and its unique marinaded cheese, natural products which have collected UK Great Taste and international cheese awards over the past years. In 2010, for instance, Fivemiletown cheese gained 14 international awards.

Using only high protein milk from the co-operative's 60 dairy farmers, Fivemiletown's experienced team of cheesemakers handcraft a range of soft cheeses in small batches to ensure consistent quality, flavour and texture.

Fivemiletown Creamery is Northern Ireland's only producer of speciality cheese. Last November, the creamery was also named 'Producer of the Month' by the influential Love British Food organisation.

Tom Parr, Fresh Food Buyer and Assistant Manager of the Food Market at Harvey Nichols, said: "We are delighted to be stocking cheese from Fivemiletown Creamery and pleased to be associated with a company that values and supports its farmers in producing the best milk possible.

"We pride ourselves on selling only the best quality fresh produce that uses the best ingredients and the cheese produced at Fivemiletown certainly adhere to that goal. Using and treating their co-operative of farmers as they do really makes for enhanced quality of produce and is also a fair and viable way of making cheese that is often lost on large retailers these days.

"We will continue to support Fivemiletown Creamery by stocking their range and have already seen positive feedback from customers so far. Whether it's their creamy Ballybrie or their fantastic Cooneen we truly believe these cheeses will be a success here at Harvey Nichols in Leeds."

Mervyn McCaughey, Fivemiletown Creamery's managing director, commenting on the latest contract won by the company in the UK, said: "Winning business for our cheese from such a prestigious retailer as Harvey Nichols in Leeds is a tremendous boost for the company. We are delighted to receive this endorsement of the quality and variety of our cheese.

"We look forward to working with the food team at Harvey Nichols on a range of promotional initiatives that will encourage discerning shoppers in Leeds to include our cheese in their shopping trolleys. Underpinning our overall approach to business is a wholehearted commitment to ensure that our services to customers match the outstanding quality of our products," he added.

Fivemiletown Creamery has a rich heritage of ethical production of handmade cheese in small batches that stretches back to 1886.

The creamery employs 80 people and supplies its cheese to upmarket retailers in the US, Europe and Hong Kong. It also counts major retailers in France among customers for its distinctively creamy bries.

Fivemiletown Creamery was the first company in Europe to develop smoked brie and the first in Ireland to produce a blue-veined brie. The company also supplies several leading delis and farm shops in Yorkshire.