‘Queen’s Grocer’ develops taste for unique cheese from award-winning Armagh farm
Fortnum and Mason, the iconic London department store and gourmet food hall, is now selling Ballylisk Triple Rose cheese from a dairy farm producer in Armagh.
The new Northern Ireland artisan cheese at Fortnum and Mason, renowned as a supplier of food, drink and other products to the Royal household, has been developed by brothers Mark and Dean Wright on the family’s dairy farm at Tandragee. Ballylisk of Armagh is a Food NI member.
The triple cream cheese, Triple Rose from Ballylisk of Armagh, is produced from milk sourced exclusively from the family’s pedigree Friesian herd on the 200-acre farm and was launched in 2017. The family has been farming in the Ballylisk area since 1820. The unique soft cheese is processed at their state-of-the-art creamery in Portadown.
Mark Wright, commenting on the first deal with Fortnum and Mason, says: “This is an immensely important contract for us with one of the best known retailers in the world and one with a superb food hall. It’s a business committed to featuring outstandingly tasty and original food and drink from around the world.
“We’ve been working closely with the store’s buying team and will taking part in sampling sessions to promote and sell the cheese to their customers from London and tourists from around the world. We are thrilled by what is a tremendous opportunity for us to reach a very discerning marketplace.
“It is fantastic to get the recognition from such a prestigious and upmarket retailer for all the hard work that goes into making our unique cheese. Our ancestors are part of our story. They have tilled the soil and helped to develop the farm into the place where the cows are eating the crops and producing the milk. We have complete traceability over what we do and that will always be the Ballylisk of Armagh way,” adds Mark.
The farming family has vast experience of producing the highest quality milk, which means Ballylisk has total control over its entire operation – from ‘farm to table’. Triple Rose is described by Mark as “a rich, decadent cheese made from pasteurised cow’s milk with added cream”.
The diversification into cheese production in 2015 followed an extensive period of market research to identify new business opportunities in premium dairy products.
Ballylisk is the only artisan cheesemaker in Northern Ireland with its own milk pool. Triple Rose cheese is now stocked in delis and farm shops across Northern Ireland and is on the tables at many top restaurants. Business has also been won from a specialist cheese retailer in Borough Market.
Founded as a grocery store in 1707, Fortnum and Mason’s reputation was built on supplying quality food, and has grown successfully. Though Fortnum and Mason has since developed into a successful department store, it continues to focus on stocking a variety of premium food and drink in store.
