Northern Irish raw-milk blue cheese in export success

Young Buck, Northern Ireland's first raw-milk artisanal blue cheese, has won its first business in Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland. The cheese, launched last month, has been developed by Mikes Fancy Cheese (MFC), a business formed with Crowdfunding support.

The artisan business, established and run by Mike Thomson at Newtownards in county Down is now supplying its Stichelton unpasteurised cheese to two high-end outlets in Dublin - Sheridan Cheesemongers and Fallon and Byrne. Sheridans has been marketing a broad range of Irish farmhouse cheeses since 1995. Fallon and Byrne is among the respected and popular food halls in Dublin city centre.

In addition, Young Buck is now being stocked by the Cheeseboard in Greenwich, a specialist in artisan cheeses since 1985, and the Courtyard Deli in Cornwall. The cheese, Northern Ireland's first raw-milk blue product, is also being used on the cheeseboards and as an ingredient by top Irish chefs such as Niall McKenna and Danny Millar.

Mike Thomson, commenting on the first business won outside Northern Ireland, says: "I've been amazed by the high level of interest in the new cheese since its launch earlier in the year. Feedback from top chefs in particular has been immensely encouraging because of its creamy blue taste and consistent quality.

"Young Buck is the only blue cheese of its type in Northern Ireland, the outcome of research over many years including time spent learning the art of cheese making in Britain."

Young Buck is sourced from milk from a single herd of award-winning Holstein-Friesian cows reared on clover-rich pastures in county Down.

Thomson (28) is a graduate of the School of Artisan Food at Welbeck Estate in Nottinghamshire and has been influenced by his time working in the Arcadia, Belfast's award-winning deli. He's also been presenting the cheese at major farmers' markets and National Trust events such as last week's International Bread Festival at Castle Ward estate, near Strangford in county Down.

The new cheese, Young Buck, reflects his aim to make blue cheese popular among younger consumers. He set out to create an accessible cheese by developing a "cool and unstuffy" identity.

"I decided on a Stichelton type cheese because I am passionate about this type of blue cheese. I had worked at Stichelton, and I loved the complex and rich flavour," 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.