Andras House, which operates five hotels and plans a further three across Northern Ireland, commissioned Fivemiletown to produce a handmade cheese as an exclusive Signature cheese for a new gourmet restaurant, The Green Room, at the Ramada Plaza, a four-star luxury hotel in Belfast. 

In addition, the Ramada Plaza signed an exclusive agreement with Fivemiletown to supply its entire its complete range of cheese for the restaurants cheeseboard.

Artisan cheesemakers at Fivemiletown Creamery created the unique oak smoked goats cheese as the Signature Cheese for The Green Room at the Ramada, Northern Irelands biggest conference/convention centre with 120 luxury bedrooms.

The new cheese draws on Fivemiletown Creamerys extensive experience in the production of its Cooneen brand goats cheese and its oak smoked Cheddar for retail sales worldwide. The cheese was cured in the creamerys own smokehouse using oak wood chips sourced from a local supplier using conservation techniques.

The new cheese will carry The Green Room brand and is the first oak smoked goats cheese made in Ireland.

Kevin McManus, Fivemiletown Creamerys sales manager, said: We are delighted to be working with the hotel group on the development of a unique cheese for diners. The collaboration will see a number of signature cheeses developed for the group and its restaurants.

Executive head chef at The Green Room Graham Burns said: We are passionate about the changing seasons and fresh foods that are in tune with the land. We are delighted to source all the cheese for cooking and for our cheeseboard from Fivemiletown Creamery, producer of some of the worlds best soft cheese.

Traditionally the best cuisine for any region was based on local produce that is available at a particular time of year. Our own traditions of cooking followed the cycles of the year, recognising that the freshest produce makes the best ingredients and for this reason a truly seasonal cuisine is our goal at The Green Room.

We are proud of the range and quality of locally sourced produce available in Northern Ireland and we are working with the best farmers and producers to deliver a cuisine that reflects the best our country has to offer.

Fivemiletown Creamery is Northern Irelands only speciality cheese producer. It uses milk from 60 dairy farmers from the region close to the creamery. The deal represents an important development for the creamery in foodservices.