A new Irish cheese made in the midlands from goats' milk has won a major award in Britain and is now poised to make an impact on the French market.
Corbetstown Cheese is manufactured in Killucan, near Mullingar by Ms Ann Holton, who is delighted at the impact the cheese has made in its first year of production.
Ann has been involved with her friends, Jill and Reg Oliver, who run a herd of goats on their farm at Killucan, where the cheese is made.
"I had been involved with the Olivers for nearly seven years and we were producing liquid milk from the goats, milk for human consumption," she said.
"About six years ago we decided to diversify and to look at alternatives for the milk, and I got involved in a rural development course on cheese-making," she said.
Three years later Ann received her diploma in cheese-manufacturing and began to make Corbetstown Cheese from the milk on the farm.
"It is a good semi-hard cheese which takes about two months to get ready for the market.
"Making the cheese is relatively easy, but marketing is a big job," she said.
Last year she broke into the Dublin market and is now to supply the Superquinn chain with her product, which she described as "a good, solid cheese".
In the last two weeks Corbetstown has gone international when it was part of a group of Irish cheeses which were placed on display at the SIAL food fair in Paris.
SIAL is the largest of its kind in Europe, and the Irish Food Board used the occasion to launch a range of Irish cheese to French and overseas buyers.
The Westmeath cheese went on display at the fair which attracts 135,000 visitors and is the one of the most important buying and opinion-forming platforms for the food and drinks industry worldwide.
The following week Ann's cheese went on to win a silver medal at the British Cheese Awards, one of the most prestigious events of its kind in Europe.
"I was very surprised at the award. I know the product is good but it has only been on the market for a year and the competition at the awards, which are sponsored by Tesco and the BBC Food Magazine, is fierce," she said.
Now Ann and her business partners are hoping to expand their operations into the rest of Europe and she feels that this can now be done.
"Additional milk is available, and if we can guarantee the quality we can expand,"["] she said.
She added that what she termed "Ireland's food police" have done a very good job for Irish producers who have no difficulty persuading buyers that their product is produced to the highest standards.
"I hope to continue the tradition of cheese making which has been here in Westmeath for many years and perhaps, win some more awards," she said.