In March of 2024, Sarah Furno and her colleague, Clara, were in attendance at the British Cheese Awards in Somerset when Cashel Blue – the cheese her parents, Jane and Louis Grubb, created 40 years earlier – was named “Reserve Champion”.

“We were the only Irish people sitting in the room,” Sarah tells Irish Country Living. “To win Reserve Champion in a country which has such great blue cheese [and is the home of Stilton] – I never could have imagined.”

Amongst the established and widely celebrated British cheeses being honoured that day, Cashel Blue was recognised for its overall quality, flavour, texture, and how the cheese has withstood the test of time over its four-decade span.

“Really, it was down to identity,” Sarah reflects, thoughtfully. “I think Cashel Blue has earned her identity.”

Going blue

Ireland is home to several delicious varieties of blue cheese, but Cashel Blue is unique in its continental European influence. If you’ve ever seen a wheel of Cashel Blue, you likely noticed its distinctive foil wrapping. This isn’t just for ‘the look’ – it’s substance over style. The final ageing stage occurs after being wrapped, unlike traditional British-style blues which are exposed, unwrapped, for the entirety of the ageing process. Among other benefits, the foil wrapping contributes to the moisture content in the finished cheese.

“My parents started Cashel Blue in the 1980s,” Sarah says. “I think, for everybody, the Irish farmhouse cheese movement started off as sort of ‘messing around in the kitchen’, so it’s hard to put a mark in the sand as to when our cheese became ‘commercially viable’, if you want to put it like that. But the early 80s is when it was really starting to happen.

“[At that time], there was no point in competing with what was already there, and there was, essentially, no one making blue cheese,” she adds. “Of course, no one was making blue because it had no Irish heritage, in any shape or form.”

Before they became cheesemakers, the Grubbs were primarily dairy farmers. On a visit to the then-annual Spring Show in 1982, Louis asked the family’s processor – Avonmore Creameries (now Tirlán) – why they were featuring an imported blue cheese (Danish Blue) in their display case.

It was explained that no one was making an Irish blue cheese, and consequently, Ireland was importing 25t of Danish Blue per annum.

“[At that time], 25t represented the average farmhouse cheese business,” Sarah says. “That would be the goal, for most. So, he thought, ‘Right. I’ll make it my business plan to import-substitute 25t of blue cheese.’ Of course, Cashel Blue is very different to Danish Blue.”

Louis is a farmer and also has an academic background, having worked within agriculture at a Government level. In contrast, Jane was trained in culinary arts at Cathal Brugha Street (now the Technological University of Dublin) followed by Ballymaloe House. She has always been creative and hands-on (“A real grafter,” Sarah says, laughing). She learned cheesemaking through interpreting different recipes and learning from others with cheesemaking experience.

“We started off very small,” Sarah says. “We made just eight cheeses a day and didn’t need a big market reaction. Because Mum had worked in Ballymaloe, Myrtle Allen said, ‘Now Janey, send down some of your cheese and I’ll put it on the cheeseboards.’ She also had the support of Olivia Hughes, who had established the first Irish country market in Fethard. [Olivia] was into women having their own identity and independence. So, Mum sold the first Cashel Blue at the country market in Fethard.”

Back then, blue cheese was practically non-existent in Ireland. While locals probably didn’t have much of a taste for it, Jane still received plenty of support.

“Later, I heard that Olivia would say to people, ‘Look, it doesn’t matter if you don’t like it, just encourage someone who’s trying to do something different.’”

Growth

Over the years, Cashel Blue has become a household name within Ireland and abroad, and particularly in the United States, with imports starting there in the early 1990s.

During that time, Louis also started the expansion of the family’s dairy operation, which started at 80ac and is 240ac today. In the early 2000s, Sarah and her husband, Sergio, were visiting on a holiday – the two were making wine in Northern Italy and were in-between jobs. They made the decision to stay and help grow the family business.

“There was our own sense of insecurity [being in-between jobs], and, at the time, there was also a sense of exhaustion in Cashel Blue,” Sarah explains. “We were making about 150-160t [per annum] and Cashel Blue was everywhere, but it was like we were on a hamster wheel. We were growing so quickly, [but] we didn’t want the quality to go down as a result.

“Sergio and I came back permanently, and, in the latter half of 2005, my cousin, Louis Clifton Brown, joined us. So, there were three of us with lots of energy and there was Dad, who still had a lot of energy and experience. We had just taken on a promotion with Whole Foods [a high-end supermarket] in the United States and it nearly broke us. We wanted to do it – the Whole Foods cheese counter is very special – but our structure [at the time] couldn’t cope with it.”

Luckily, with European milk quotas due to be abolished, the Government was looking to invest in processing facilities. Louis spotted a small advertisement in the Irish Farmers Journal calling on applications for a “Dairy Structural Fund”. They didn’t have much time to complete the application, but Sarah says the Department was helpful and supportive throughout the process. They won funding and, in 2010, established the purpose-built cheesemaking facility where Cashel Blue is made today.

Import woes

A few years later, with agri food policy pushing cooperation between brands to make importing Irish food more viable and standardised, Cashel Blue were approached by Ornua. They wanted to partner with Cashel Blue and act as their primary importer into the United States.

“On the one hand, we were fearful,” Sarah recalls. “We knew the perception of commercial dairy was different to that of the artisanal food community. We were being asked to go outside of our own box – one most people [in the agri food space] didn’t even know existed. But our pragmatic side saw the streamlining of logistics, and we decided to go for it.”

This past year, Ornua ended this contract with Cashel Blue and are no longer going to operate as the brand’s primary importer. Sarah says at first, this came as a shock, but small businesses are used to meeting unexpected challenges. They understand – better than most – how to pivot, diversify and find new ways to operate.

“As a small player, you don’t really have the time to dwell on it,” she says.

At one stage, 25% of Cashel Blue’s business was within the United States. If this were still the case, this new challenge would have been much more difficult to navigate. Today, 10% of their business is within the United States, which Sarah feels is manageable.

“I do believe, in small business, that if you work hard and lose 10%, you can keep going without losing anyone and find new [streams of] business. We respect Ornua are taking a different path. Sometimes, it’s good to be forced to steer a distinct path for yourself,” says Sarah.

Recognition

Despite this blow, you couldn’t say Cashel Blue has had a bad few years. Looking at 2024, it started off with their Reserve Champion recognition at the British Cheese Awards and, from there, the accolades kept coming. Soon after, the cheese received three stars at the Great Taste Awards. This was followed by a (highly coveted) Golden Fork – the highest honour a product can receive from The Guild of Fine Food.

“I brought Sergio [to the Great Taste Awards] and as it was also our daughter’s 12th birthday, I asked if we could bring her along,” Sarah says. “This distinction was lovely in a completely different way [to the British Cheese Awards]. In London, we were standing among contemporary foods – really innovative products – and were judged by individuals with cosmopolitan tastes. This was exciting, because it meant, after 40 years, we were still relevant.”

The honours didn’t end there. In early 2025, Sarah brought her parents to the annual Irish Food Writers’ Guild Awards where they were presented with the Guild’s Lifetime Achievement Award. More recently, at the annual Blas na h’Éireann awards in Dingle, Cashel Blue Organic won both Best in Tipperary and Best Artisan Award.

“To win Best in Tipperary was so special, because Tipp is local, but in my wildest dreams I would never have imagined we would win Best Artisan,” Sarah says, smiling.

“Today, we produce a total of 380t [per annum] of Cashel Blue. A far cry from the 25t we first set out to achieve. That said, we are still a drop in the ocean. Irish farmhouse cheesemakers represent less than 1% of cheese produced in Ireland, with 80% of cheese sales in Ireland being for cheddar. To produce 25t of farmhouse cheese consistently and safely while providing an income for yourself, and hopefully some local employment – that is hugely valuable.”

See cashelblue.com.