New ‘cow to table’ farmhouse butter from Dromore family innovators

Enterprising Island Dairies in Dromore has launched a new farmhouse butter in an ongoing drive to offer local shoppers deliciously different and traceable foods and ensure the growth of the farm in both short and long-terms.

The lightly salted butter is the latest in a series of innovative dairy foods developed by the third generation family farm that has a longstanding track record in successful new products for consumers in areas around the market town.

They are reviving a tradition of butter making on farms which existed in the past. Farms here once churned their own butter and produced cheddar-style cheese.

Island’s richly tasting butter is produced on the farm using fresh milk straight from its own 600-strong dairy herd and is already on sale in local food stores and delis around the predominantly rural area. And it’s already proving a popular addition to the chillers in many local food stores.

Churning, rolling and packing the unique farmhouse butter is led by Alana Wilson (23), the production director at the dairy and a daughter of owners Alan and Jenny Wilson. Her brothers Christopher and Harry also work on the farm and in the artisan business Alana studied the butter process and other production requirements during the coronavirus pandemic. She’s producing the new butter using a mechanical churn sourced from England.

“The new butter is a logical extension of our strategic focus on ways to add value to our milk, our basic product, and thereby ensure the long-term farm business,” explains Alana. “I love working with our milk to produce this genuine farmhouse butter. We are already benefiting from our development of other products such as flavoured milk and milk shakes which are immensely popular with people around the area.”

In addition to online studies and qualifications in key areas such as hygiene, Alana has been assisted by technical experts at the Loughry Food Innovation hub in Cookstown, Co Tyrone of the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE).

The dairy launched the new Island Farmhouse Butter, in 160g packs, at the start of June and has enjoyed “very positive feedback from shoppers in Lisburn and Ballygowan as well as Dromore and Lurgan”.

“We are just at the start of our marketing journey and will be stepping up our contacts with retailers here. Our aim, in time, is to develop business for our unique creamery butter in Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland,” Alana says.

The dairy, in addition, is considering the creation of several flavoured butters.

“We want to establish our original farmhouse butter, of course, before we begin to think about the creation of flavours such as garlic,” she continues.

A commitment to innovation has long underpinned the family business, a focus it shares with a number of other local farm enterprises.

The business takes its name from ‘Islandderry’ which means ‘Land of Oak’ in Gaelic and was the original name of the farm from the 17th century. “Our family bought the farm in 1975 and moved to Dromore from Kircubbin in Co Down. The family’s roots, however, stretch back to the Dromore/Hillsborough area.”

The first diversification came in 1979 when the family began bottling its own milk in response to poor farm gate prices. A bottling plant followed to meet the growing demand from the community for the fresh milk.

Retail sales followed as the popularity of the milk grew and deliveries developed to high profile customers such as the then Crazy Prices and Stewarts supermarkets.

The dairy now produces and delivers an impressive portfolio of whole milk, semi-skimmed milk, milkshakes, orange juice, free range eggs and local honey to Dromore, Hillsborough, Moira, Donaghcloney and Blackskull.

It has plans to expand the area, guaranteeing freshness and full traceability ‘‘from cow to cup’ for many more local people.

“Our commitment is to produce good quality milk and a reliable service,” Alana explains. “On our farm we have an exciting five-year strategic plan to develop our product range with environmental impacts at the forefront of our decision making.”

An important decision with the environment in mind was a switch to 100% recyclable glass bottles which it delivers and collects for reuse.

“Our decision to use glass bottles instead of plastic containers was driven by the damaging effect plastic is having on our environment. Our environment is precious. We will do everything within our power to protect and preserve it,” adds Alana.