Cheese Talk: Johnny McDowell, Indie Fude

We set up nearly seven years ago as a small travelling cheese stall, specializing in small batch Irish cheeses and selling them at farmers markets. This was supported by a good friend and cheesemaker, Mike Thompson (Mike’s Fancy Cheese, creator of Young Buck). We are cheese obsessed and focus on the experience and educational side giving the customer something different – local rarer farmhouse and raw milk cheeses, a bit of chit chat and lowdown on the cheeses and the cheese journey from the maker, to how it’s made and the taste profiles, and how these might be best enjoyed. 

Encouraged by the feedback, we moved to our first ‘bricks and mortar’ store in our rural home town, Comber, Co Down in 2016 (and later moved to a bigger store in 2018) supplementing by now over 60 Irish farmhouse cheeses with a wider variety of artisan complementary products focusing on quality and ‘local’.

We opened our second store in urban Belfast on the Ormeau Road, packed full of other independent stores.  We wanted to do something different with a fully air-conditioned store and a place to mature the cheese and free up some of the vital storage space for cheesemakers.  The presentation style and the beauty of the natural cheeses really caught the imagination of the local area and brought us a really different and new customer base. 

Life doesn’t always go to plan. Over the last two years, we’ve manoeuvred our way through both Brexit and Covid! 

Brexit has ironically really helped – we’ve had unfettered access to our supply chain around the island of Ireland and been able to assist some of the Irish cheesemakers get their product to market in GB using the unique geographical position of Northern Ireland.

Covid brought more challenges with ups and downs throughout. Initially having to self-isolate myself, I was grateful for the commitment and solidarity of my business partner and staff.  During hard lockdowns, we began a free delivery service of essential boxes partnering with the local baker, milk suppliers and butchers. Our existing customers rallied to support us and we found a whole new customer base appreciating the local food chain. Online business grew whether from those isolating or sending gift boxes to loved ones near and far – it was heartwarming to see some of the lovely messages that went into these. As lockdown restrictions eased and people came back out to the shops and started to socialize in smaller groups, there was a real trend for great local food at home – they love the treat of taking home a really great cheeseboard to family and friends… the word has spread fast… to cook at home with the family and to be conscious of spending their money to pass down the local supply chain.

We noticed the love of local products and especially cheese continued to grow. Before a customer may have looked for a bit of Brie or Cheddar but now they’re exploring a much wider range, whether raw milk, goats or sheep’s cheeses, or more mature cheeses in particular. 

It has been heartening to see the consumer choosing to stay local, to support us as an independent food business. We’ve loved forging those relationships over the years with local cheesemakers, getting out to meet them on their farms or cheesemaking facilities, painting that picture in our head and relaying that picture to our customers.

Looking forward… We’ve recently partnered with a local cheesemaker, Davide Tani of Velocheese based in Belfast. For the last three years he has worked on our roving cheese stall, meeting the customers, learning about Irish cheeses and getting feedback on his own products. During lockdown, we hatched a plan for both businesses to come together. In 2022, we’ll be making a city-made cheese on a sustainable level (cheese will also be delivered by a velomobile, a low-level bike shaped like a banana with a nifty chilled trailer powered by cycling). The unit is part of a living museum in a disused warehouse allowing tasting, events and a bit of theatre. 

In store, we’re moving the cheese accompaniment side of things to the next level, working with some wonderful local producers to make fantastic chutneys, honeys, balsamics and crackers that can pair wonderfully with certain types of cheese.

It’s been hard seeing our hospitality colleagues suffer. We’ve also worked with a lot of friends in the craft drinks industry in recent months and have great plans for pairing classes and tastings. 

The last two years have been hard but we’ve got through it and we hope 2022 is looking better for all of us.