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Praise ‘Frome’ the Top - Dromona Cheese Declared ‘Gratest’!
Flying the flag once again for top quality Northern Ireland cheddar on the national stage, Dale Farm has scooped no less than six awards for its Dromona Cheese range at the Frome Cheese Show in Somerset.
Among these, its Dromona Grated Cheese secured gold, making it not only the number one choice of NI’s food service sector but officially the top ranked grated cheese in the UK – demonstrating the brand’s credentials to retail, food service and food ingredients target customers.
Dromona Cheese was the only NI brand to be recognised at the Frome Show. These latest awards bring the total number bestowed on the indigenous cheddar to a noteworthy nine within just three months, adding to Nantwich Cheese Show and Guild of Fine Foods’ Great Taste accolades.
Brian Beattie, Dale Farm’s head of marketing, says that the awards enhance the ‘exportability’ of local Dromona Cheese to national and international regions, supporting Dale Farm’s strategy to push further into value added markets.
“The Frome and other awards all add to our brand’s ‘must have’ factor – the products are being voted the best by industry experts and that counts for a great deal among senior buyers bombarded with choice in a very crowded dairy sector,” said Mr Beattie.
“Significant investment and a core focus on craft cheese techniques have given us the capacity, skills and importantly, the agility, to produce innovative and premium cheeses for the retail, food service and food ingredients sectors. Our latest gold award-winner – Dromona Grated Cheese – is proving to be a strategic offering. In the last four years, demand for grated cheese has rocketed across the UK and now accounts for over 15% of the entire cheese market. We launched our Grated Cheese in 2004 and we are now the leading supplier of grated cheese to NI’s £2 billion food service sector,” Brian continued.
“Once again, congratulations must go to our award winning team of artisan Dromona Cheese makers , whose dedication and innovation continue to drive the brand forward in extremely competitive times,” he concluded.
The Frome Cheese Show, based in Somerset, is now in its 132nd year and is recognised as a benchmark of quality for UK cheese. Judged by cheese connoisseurs and senior buyers from major supermarkets, outlets and industry bodies, entries to the annual agricultural show undergo rigorous evaluation including taste, texture, colour, form and aroma.
