Northern Ireland’s Blue Bull cheese makes a bold bite on the global stage
An innovative cheese created in a unique collaboration by three Northern Ireland enterprises has won acclaim from judges in this year’s most important challenge for the dynamic global industry.
Blended from Castlereagh’s Kearney Blue Cheese and craft beer from Bullhouse in Belfast by Jonny McDowell, a successful retailer, Blue Bull cheese has been successful at the prestigious World Cheese Awards (WCA) in Bern, Switzerland.
Jonny, the cheese lover behind the new dairy innovation from Northern Ireland owns Indie Fude deli, which has shops on Belfast’s Ormeau Road and Comber, Co Down, with business partner Laura Bradley.
Blue Bull is the result of over five year’s research and experimentation by Jonny, who has a passion for cheese from Ireland and further afield. The two delis, as a result, specialise in Irish cheese, including locally produced Mikes Fancy Cheese
from Newtownards, Claudy’s Dart Mountain and Castlereagh’s Kearney Blue, as well as a comprehensive range of local artisan produce.
The cheese scooped a coveted bronze medal at the World Cheese Awards 2025 in early November from among 5,000 entries from across the globe. Blue Bull was the only Northern Ireland entrant and subsequent winner in the global competition, the most important and influential this year.
Jonny, who is passionate about cheese, especially Irish varieties, was a judge in the global competition. He has a longstanding relationship with William Mayne, the owner of Bullhouse Brewery in Belfast and his Bullhouse East pub at Holywood Arches on the Newtownards Road. Jonny holds beer and cheese evenings in the popular pub to increase awareness of local cheese.
Kearney Blue is a creamy and sharp blue created originally by cheesemaker Paul McClean at Farmview Dairies, the milk supplier, in the Castlereagh Hills outside of Belfast.
From its origins being hand made in a kitchen pot, Kearney Blue has grown into a multi-award-winning cheese including an impressive gold medal in the international cheese awards. Paul has now retired from cheese making.
A truly local cheese, Kearney Blue was inspired by the beautiful Belfast landscape with its speckled paste evoking images of the stone farm walls of the Ards Peninsula.
It is made from milk taken from cows grazing on a select group of farms within five miles of the dairy. Sourcing the milk from within a close radius to the dairy ensures Kearney Blue to be made with only the freshest morning milk.
Blue Bull, Jonny says, was created using “Kearney Blue, a fantastic blue cheese made in the Castlereagh Hills above Belfast, and Belfast’s superb Bullhouse El Capitan Export Stout”. Bullhouse is an award-winning craft brewer at Boucher in south Belfast.
The cheese, according to Jonny, is “a rich, creamy and spicy blue that marries so well with the bold punch infused by the big, fruity stout.”
“We were absolutely thrilled when Blue Bull was awarded an award by the expert judges,” he continues. “It was great to be able to bring back such a prestigious award for the buoyant food industry in Northern Ireland. The award is a great boost just before the busy Christmas season and encourages us to continue our work to develop other innovative cheeses for here, Britain and Ireland.”
The award for Blue Bull was Indie Fude’s second World Cheese Award medal having also lifted a bronze at the awards in Wales in 2022 for its Straciatella Italian cheese.
Upwards of 5,200 cheeses from producers in 46 countries across the globe were entered in this year’s event in Bern. A classic Gruyère from Switzerland was named best cheese on the planet while competing on home soil at the 37 th awards which were organised by the Guild of Fine Food in London, the business which also the annual Great Taste Awards. This is the sixth time in the history of the awards that a Swiss Gruyère has won the top honour.
Despite the home triumph, the top 14 category winners reflected the truly global nature of the entrants to the awards, with cheeses from Japan, Slovakia, the US and the Netherlands – as well as three British cheeses in the running.
The World Champion emerged after a full-on day of judging at BernExpo’s Festhalle, an event that was hosted as part of the Swiss city’s Capital of Cheese celebrations – a three-day festival of tastings, markets and masterclasses.
Jonny, an accountant by profession, opened delis in Comber and Belfast’s Ormeau Road specialising in local produce especially cheese from 2013. He has also gained the prestigious Blas na hEireann Producers Award in recognition of his support for local producers.
He opened the Comber deli in 2015 after he was inspired by his passion for cheese and other artisan foods discovered while travelling around Ireland. He started the business with an online store in 2013 before opening the deli two years later.
Jonny chose the Indie Fude name to reflect his core philosophies of“indigenous” and “independent”, meaning the shops sell small-batch products from artisans on the island of Ireland. The shops stock around 1,000 products from Irish suppliers and also provide a successful corporate hamper service using only local produce.