Portumna

<p>This International Women's Day, we're delighted to share this interview with one of East Galway's most determined, talented, and successful businesswomen — Teresa Roche of Kylemore Farmhouse Cheese.</p>
<p>Love and respect for the land are at the heart of Kylemore Farmhouse Cheese's philosophy. Teresa has made some serious waves in the Irish entrepreneurial world, having won multiple awards for her unique cheeses and farm shop. Most recently, her Coolfin Cheese won the Food Writers Guild 2022 Food Award.&nbsp;</p>
<h3>Tell us a little bit about yourself</h3>
<p>My name is Teresa Roche and I'm the producer of Kylemore Farmhouse Cheese here in East Galway. I started my business back in 2017 with a background in nursing, having worked internationally. I returned home for a holiday and I've been here ever since.</p>
<h3>Where did the idea for Kylemore Farmhouse Cheese come from?</h3>
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<p>The idea came from wanting to add value to the raw material we produce and to diversify on the farm using our milk as a key component. We have a family-run business here. We're a dairy farm and we've been producing milk for over 60 years.&nbsp;</p>
<p>We have a pedigree dairy herd of cows, Holstein Friesians, and we've been producing milk for over 60 years. We supply our bond dairy cooperative with milk.</p>
<p>The cheese business is my business. I wanted to diversify the farm and I believed there was a niche market that we could tap into.</p>
<p>I went to Switzerland to learn how to make cheese. I worked with the local cheesemaker and Killeen Cheese, our neighbour, who was helpful in giving me work experience and allowing me to develop my skills.</p>
<p>I wanted to make a unique mountain cheese, similar to Swiss, that wasn't available in the UK and Ireland.</p>
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<p>So I specialise in hard cheeses that have a long, maturing shelf life. They are mild, sweet, nutty cheeses and the rinds are all handmade so there's no waste — the product is fully edible from the inside out.&nbsp;</p>
<p>It's all handmade directly on the farm here. One of our most unique points is that we are very sustainable and traceable from farm to fork.</p>
<p>Our cows are, as I mentioned, a pedigree dairy herd. We do not buy stock in — it's a closed herd and it's disease-free.&nbsp;</p>
<p>We also have grass pasture-fed cows. We only make cheese from April to October when the cows are fully out on the grass. So you get this lovely sweet milk from the carotene in the grass.&nbsp;</p>
<h3>What actions are you taking in your business or personal life to help achieve a more sustainable world? And why are you doing these things?</h3>
<p>To achieve a more sustainable business, we had to start from the dairy herd. Our dairy herd, as I mentioned previously, are a pedigree dairy herd.&nbsp;</p>
<p>We're very sustainable in that we produce food from a grass-fed production. We are the most sustainable country in the world producing the highest quality milk and I think our farmers are some of the best in the world.</p>
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<h5>A photogenic member of Teresa's herd!</h5>
<p>The cheese is always high quality and the product is fully traceable. It’s also sustainable due to its long life. There's no waste and the rinds are handmade.&nbsp;</p>
<p>We have a farm shop which we supply with products from local growers, local producers. They are all very seasonal products, depending on what's available, and we have a compost bin.&nbsp;</p>
<p>All of our products are carefully sourced — even our coffee is an organic coffee and we compost that too. We have an eco-education system where we conduct farm tours for schools, universities and chefs.&nbsp;</p>
<p>We have international farmers as well and local farmers, even Irish farmers who come to learn how to diversify on their farms.&nbsp;</p>
<h3>What do you like the most about the town or area that you live in?&nbsp;</h3>
<p>That’s a very important question. We are located in East Galway at the foothills of the Slieve Aughty mountains, in the small parish of Abbey.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Our local surroundings are very important to us because we're on agricultural land. It's a rural community but a thriving one, full of farmland. We are in close proximity to the town of Portumna which is very important to us with the River Shannon.&nbsp;</p>
<p>I believe Ecotourism is the future of this area. Abbey has a reputation for having pristine, holy waterways.</p>
<p>The Sliabh Aughty mountains and the water coming from it is of extremely high quality and this is what we are using for our cheese. I think that's something to be very proud of.&nbsp;</p>
<p>We are also very proud of the small community where we live. All of us have a big interest in living sustainably. In the village of Abbey, we have chicken huts where people supply their food that can be composted and these eggs are then distributed within the community.</p>
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<p>We're part of Sustainable Energy West which is located in East Galway. And that is very important to us. It's all about sustainability within our communities and towns and villages, so I'm part of that committee as well.&nbsp;</p>
<h3>Finally, what's the best piece of advice or inspiration you've ever received from a woman in your life?&nbsp;&nbsp;</h3>
<p>I suppose the most important thing is to remember who you are. Everyone should be very determined to succeed in whatever they want to do and be happy.</p>
<p>Life is short, precious, and I suppose you do have to follow your dreams. And you know, anyone can be anything they want to be.&nbsp;</p>
<h3>And you're following your dream - maker of cheese?&nbsp;</h3>
<p>I suppose cheese is the background and it's the product that we sell but there's a bigger story outside of the cheese. The cheese is just the business. But the real story is of our community.&nbsp;</p>
<h3>What advice would you give to a young woman in 2022?&nbsp;</h3>
<p>We speak to many young women, a lot coming through the shop and through the farm through the last few years.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Believe in yourself, follow your dreams, try to be happy within yourself, be authentic, be who YOU want to be.&nbsp;</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><strong>. . .</strong></p>
<p><em>Many thanks to Jim Hynes for facilitating this interview and congratulations to Teresa on her recent awards - inspiring as always! Check out Kylemore Farmhouse Cheese under 'Shopping' in the Xplore Portumna app.</em></p>


Local Business Spotlight: Kylemore Farmhouse Cheese

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