When did you start making your own cheese?

I’ve been milking goats since 2008 and I started the cheese business in 2010. We were supplying Glenisk with goat milk but prices started to get volatile after the recession. So I decided to start making my own cheese. I’m now milking 300 goats and using about 50% of my own milk. The rest still goes to Glenisk.

How much of a capital investment did it require?

Two years ago, I expanded the cheese-making facility so I can make more cheese, more efficiently. I’ve invested about €50,000 developing the processing facility between processing and packaging equipment and retrofitting a 200-year-old stone shed with cold room panels for a cheese-making room.

Where did you learn to make cheese?

I did a cheese-making course in Teagasc Moorepark to learn all the basics of making cheese. I then got an innovation voucher from Enterprise Ireland which allowed me to get the help of one of the top cheese experts in Teagasc Moorepark. He helped me design my own cheese-making facility, told me what equipment I needed and helped me develop different recipes for new cheeses. He also helped me commission the facility once it was installed.

How did you develop markets for your product?

I started out making a blue goats cheese because I saw there was no other cheese like that being made in Ireland. The main buyers such as Sheridans Cheesemongers and La Rousse Foods both wanted it from the start because they couldn’t get it anywhere else. The likes of Sheridans would also export some of my cheese to customers in Europe.

What volume of cheese do you make?

This year I’m making twice as much cheese as I did in previous years. I’m still what you would classify as a small cheesemaker as I’m making just under five tonnes. I’m using half of my milk now to make cheese but I’ll eventually end up using all of my milk. Once I get to that point, I can start increasing my goat herd.

What are the benefits of moving up the production chain?

The whole point of the cheese business is to make the farm more profitable. If the cheese business is making money, which it is, it can pay the farm a proper milk price and I don’t have to worry about volatility.

What did it mean to win at this year’s British cheese awards?

My Boyne Valley Bán cheese won the best Irish cheese at this year’s British cheese awards, which are like the Oscars for cheese producers. It’s huge for the business. The Boyne Valley Bán is a white cheese I developed last year that’s proven very popular. I would have always been a blue cheesemaker but now I’m really going to have to start producing more of the white cheese.