The people behind the Dubliner Cheese blog.

J J Walsh, Sales and Marketing Manager

Hi, J J from Dubliner Irish Cheese here. Niamh Lennon and the Irish sales team headed by Ann Acheson work with me to manage the Dubliner Irish Cheese brand in the Irish market. We also work closely with our colleagues at the IDB in Dublin and IDB USA who manage Dubliner in the US market which is the biggest market for Dubliner cheese.

I was told by the rest of the Dubliner team that I am the ‘Big Cheese’ for blog purposes in any case. I have a good history of doing what I’m told so I will run with this idea for the moment. Mid- fifties, J J stands for John Joseph, a loving wife Irene who is much younger (looking) than I am and I have 3 children all in their 20s: Joanne, Shane and Peter.

Dubliner Cheese is made in a little village called Ballineen, where cheese making began 41 years ago. I was at Secondary school when the cheese factory opened. This venture was all the talk of the farming community at the time. The older folk in the area and indeed a lot of the establishment said that the venture would not succeed. The younger farmers were not really sure but were keen to give the venture a chance.

Soon the Ballineen cheese began to appear in local shops and it was really nice. Many consumers in those days used processed cheese which normally came in a box with silver foil wrap and the arrival of a natural cheese from Ballineen cheese factory was a welcome, flavoursome alternative. A change for Ireland I thought, because back in those days in Ireland there was a feeling that we exported our best quality food and the balance was sold in Ireland. Looking back on it, it was probably a myth. But this type of perception still pervades: in the US there is a feeling that imported products are superior to home made.

I joined Carbery 31 years ago but I had to wait 10 years to get involved in the cheese side of things. While we made many different types of cheese at the Carbery plant in Ballineen, launching of our own Dubliner Cheese in 1996 was something we had never done before, and knowing a little bit about how brands operate we all knew we were embarking on a long journey. And here we are 13 years later, a lot of work completed but a lot more to do.

I am told that blog posts have to be short and snappy, so it time to sign off and look forward to thinking about the content of my next entry.  In my posts I plan to cover the Dubliner brand, what is happening in the wider cheese business, farming and life in Ireland. Over the next few weeks we plan to feature contributions from the wider cheese management team too.

 

Dermot Curtin, Dubliner Cheese Master

Date of Birth: 20th Jan 1967
Star Sign: Capricorn
Height: 5ft 11”
Weight: 75kg
Eyes: Brown
FAVOURITES
Food: Steak and Chips
Drink: Budweiser
Pastime: Hurling and Greyhound Racing
Movie: Legends of the Fall
Actor: Tom Hanks
Actress: Sandra Bullock
Band: Meat Loaf
Destination: New Zealand

Dermot lives one mile from Carbery in the village of Ballineen. He is married to Kay; they have three children Danielle 10, Sinead 8 and David 3. Growing up in the Golden Vale Dermot experienced life on a dairy farm hands on so to speak. A farm of 80 acres and 60 milking cows was enough to keep any young lad busy. Going back ten generations before Dermot’s time, the family farm was part of a big estate. As part of the estate this farm produced all the liquid milk for the Charleville area. The tradition of producing liquid milk lived on and even 10 generations later cows were milked by hand. Only in the last 25 years have we seen the modernisation of milking in Ireland.

During his college years like many an adventurous Irish student Dermot travelled to America for summer work. Landscape gardening was a popular job for the Irish and Dermot was no exception, he spent two summer breaks landscape gardening in Long Island NY.

Dermot came to work in Carbery in 1988 after completing a Dairy Science Degree in University College Cork. Dermot has always worked in the cheese department in Carbery. When Dermot came to Carbery in 1988 there was already 20 years of cheese making experience in the department. Larry Hennessy who was Dermot’s mentor at the time has been making cheese since 1968. The craft of cheese making was passed on to Dermot from Larry. Over the years Carbery have diversified and expanded their cheese making process. From two varieties in 1988 to thirteen varieties today. Dermot is of the opinion that Carbery needs to position itself as a specialist cheese producer who responds quickly to consumers changing tastes and preferences. Dermot’s working style embrace all that is old and new. The foundation of all that he does in Carbery is built on tradition. The driving force behind Dermot’s department is the consumer. Dermot’s has worked with products such as Dubliner Irish Cheese, Reduced Fat and Vintage Cheddar from the very beginning and takes a personal interest in their commercial success.

 

 

 

Donie O’Brien, Dubliner Grader

Date of Birth: 2 July 1948
Star Sign: Cancer
Height: 5ft 9”
Weight: 80kg
Eyes: Blue
FAVOURITES
Food: Fish
Drink: Guinness
Pastime: Gaelic Hurling and Football
Destination: Cape Cod

Donie makes sure all our Dubliner cheese meets the grade! He lives 3 miles from Carbery in the village of Ballinacarriga. He is married to Madeline, they have 5 children, 3 boys and 2 girls. Donie’s interest in the dairy industry stems from an early age, when he helped his father who was the manager in the local creamery, in Enniskeane. Donie attended University College Cork where he studied Dairy Science. He qualified with a degree in 1972.
During his summer holidays from university he worked for a Dairy Co-operative (Bandon), where he was involved in all aspects of the business, from milk reception to manufacture of butter. He joined Carbery in 1973 as a shift supervisor in the Powder Department. Five years later he transferred to the cheese department where he took up the position of “cheese taster/grader”. At that time Carbery were producing 2 varieties of cheese. Today, the company produces 13 varieties of cheese. Busy times for the cheese taster, but it is also satisfying and rewarding to see the product which has been selected appear on the supermarket shelves throughout the world.

 

Niamh Lennon, Sales & Marketing Manager

Hello All,

I am the newest member to the Dubliner team, having started in Carbery in April 2011.  I am deligted to be working with such an incredible team looking after Dubliner Cheese in the home market. 

We have some really exciting plans coming up for Dubliner Cheese, so I look forward to sharing them with you over the coming months.  In the meantime, if you have any comments or queries, you can contact me directly at :        nlennon@carbery.com