Trade
Fivemiletown the cream of exporters
Mervyn McCaughey, managing director of Fivemiletown Creamery, talks to Sam Butler about the companyʼs achievements in global markets
S
oaring sales last year of Fivemiletown Creameryʼs range of speciality cheeses to markets from Scandinavia to France and the US to Hong Kong show that the success of the small companyʼs focus on exports. Around 95 per cent of its cheeses are now sold outside Northern Ireland.
Fivemiletown premium cheeses are on the shelves of many of the worldʼs biggest food retailers including US giants Wal‑Mart and Safeway, the UKʼs Sainsbury, Asda, Waitrose and Harrods, as well as Galeries Lafayette in France and ParknShop, Hong Kongʼs biggest grocery chain, successes reflected in a healthy balance sheet. Its commitment to high quality products and an exceptional supply chain were endorsed most recently in the achievement of Red Tractor certification. Red Tractor certified food must come from an assured production chain in which producers, processors and packers meet rigorous standards at every stage. The audit takes into account traceability and integrity, training systems for the companyʼs staff and those employed by contractors and suppliers, environmental protection, documentation and procedures, animal health and welfare, animal medicines and biosecurity, feed and water supply, housing shelter and handling, and calf rearing processes. Awards from international cheese festivals and the UK Great Taste Awards for its Cooneen, Irish Goatʼs Cheese, Ballyblue, the smoked Ballyoak, Ballybrie, OʼReillys Irish goatʼs cheese, Oakwood Irish smoked cheddar and its creamy Irish Cheddar have endorsed the quality of its range of products. The successful acquisition of Ryfield Farms in Cavan, the original developer of Boilie garlic marinaded soft, creamy cheese pearls, in 2008, has encouraged the creamery to look for further opportunities to buy other operations. Boilie has become an international success, selling particularly well last year in quality conscious markets such as Denmark and the US. “We are focused on improving the financial security of our producer members, the 60 farmers who supply 95 per cent of our milk, by significantly improving the profitability and viability of the creamery, their processing facility.
“Producing the best cheese products that enable us to set ourselves apart in export markets as a supplier premium and innovative products requires consistently high quality milk. “At Fivemiletown Creamery we believe that cheese making is an art. Our cheeses are still handcrafted. At the heart of the process are two essential requirements: the quality and purity of the milk that our farmers provide and the skill and passion of our cheese makers under Ian McIntosh. Itʼs a partnership. We are all passionate about quality and richly flavoured cheese.” “To protect our brand, margins and also to ensure benefits for our farmers weʼve positioned our cheeses as premium products. We are not interested in sacrificing this image and our margins for volume sales.”
Speciality cheeses are a key element in the
creameryʼs growth strategy as well as an important contributor to current revenues. Other revenue sources include cheese made for other companies and whey, a protein ingredient thatʼs in demand from European food manufacturers. Overall, production has doubled over the past three years, and the creamery has been operating close to full capacity.
“Over the past five years weʼve changed and diversified the business, reducing our dependence on a small customer base, developed new revenue streams, including from niche products, created a well‑invested site and a highly efficient operation and moulded a strong and versatile team. The challenge for us is to accelerate our growth by reinforcing the Fivemiletown brand particularly in established markets such as Great Britain, where the opportunities are substantial, as well as the Republic, other parts of Europe and the US.”
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