Irish/Italian a winning blend for Barbavilla cheese

Westmeath dairy producers, Barbavilla Dairy, have been selected by Lidl Ireland to be stocked on shelves in stores nationwide. Barbavilla Dairy (also Our Creamery) is located near Collinstown – hence the name Barbavilla.

Barbavilla Dairy was founded and is led by Peter and Stacey Pavov and their daughter Aleks. Peter has lived in Mullingar for 20 years, and they have more than a decade of experience in the hospitality industry.

The product being stocked is their Smoked Provola Cheese, a blend of Italian dairy tradition with Irish craftsmanship.

Our Creamery was chosen as part of Lidl Ireland’s Kickstart programme, supported by Bord Bia, which aims to help support small and medium-sized producers to grow their brands.

The Smoked Provola Cheese has already brought earned success as winner of a Gold Award for Best Smoked Cheese, and two stars at the Great Taste Awards.

Peter Pavlov told the Westmeath Examiner: “Everything we do is by hand, with traditional techniques and ways of producing. This isn’t a regular block of cheese – it is smoked with our own unique blend of maple wood cheese.

“Along with that, the cheese is smoked with whiskey barrels, which are from a friend of ours – they are salvaged from whiskey distilleries.”

Peter elaborated on the unique taste of his cheese: “We mix the shavings from the whiskey barrels with the maple, and it creates a sweet, caramely taste with a slight hint of whiskey.

“Simply, because the cheese is lactic and a bit salty, the maple and whiskey hint balances it out very well.”

Peter is now hoping that Lidl Ireland’s Kickstart Supplier Development Programme will lead to their products being regularly available on Lidl shelves.