Toons Bridge Dairy
In 2011 we established Toons Bridge Dairy, sister company to The Real Olive Company, having noticed a real appetite for fresh Mozzarella among our customers. In an old creamery building in the historic Irish artisan food region of West Cork we began producing Fresh Buffalo Mozzarella, the first of it's kind to be made in Ireland. From there we began producing cheeses in the Mediterranean tradition, working in small batches and using exclusively fresh, local and unpasteurised buffalo and cow's milk. Toons Bridge Dairy specialises in Southern Mediterranean style cheeses, particularly stretched curd cheeses known as pasta filata. We are best known for our Mozzarella but we produce a family of cheeses including Caciocavallo, Ricotta, Smoked Scamorza, Halloumi, Burrata and more.
We started The Real Olive Company in 1993, and based ourselves between Cork’s English Market and Toons bridge, with market stalls and wholesale customers around the country. When we first started making cheese these market stalls were ideal for distributing their Mozzarella as freshly as possible while offering the perfect opportunity to get direct feedback from customers. To this day, Toons Bridge Diary cheeses are sold predominantly through the Real Olive Company stalls, as well as through our established wholesale network.
Through experimentation and curiosity we have continued to grow our range of cheeses with the help of our team of passionate cheese-makers. Given we produce and distribute our cheeses there is great freedom for experimentation in the dairy. Taking inspiration from the ancient cheese-making methods and regional cheeses of the southern Mediterranean we continue to experiment and challenge ourselves to remain authentic to these methods give them a distinctive West Cork provenance coming up with new ideas, creating seasonal cheeses, and are constantly expanding their range.
Buy our cheeses here!
Toby and Franco at work
Manipulating the curd to make Caciocavallo
Large Mature Caciocavallo / Making Cow & Buffalo Milk Halloumi in the Dairy
Halloumi Lollypop at Litfest 2017 / Mozzarella display in the English Market
