About Us
Sheila’s
(Mayo) Ltd., a family business run by Tom and Sheila Butler, was
established in 1990 to produce a country-style butter to satisfy the
demands of those consumers looking for authentic flavour and exceptional
quality. This country-style butter is made using pasteurised farm-fresh
cream, which is ripened before churning, giving the butter its traditional
and distinctive country flavour - a mild lactic flavour. A little salt (2%
maximum) is then added to bring out the butter flavour before it is
shaped, formed
and wrapped in laminated foil.
Ireland has a
long tradition in the art of butter-making since the Celts introduced the
skill in 200-150 BC, which is continued by Sheila’s on its family farm in
the West of Ireland.
The
company also produces natural buttermilk, which is the by-product of the
fermented cream, it is characterised by
its pleasant ripened flavour. This
product has a growing discerning customer-base. A naturally low-fat
product (less than half of 1%
fat), this buttermilk while
primarily used for baking,it is also used for a drink, it is great blended
with a banana and wheat germ as a breakfast drink. To the best of my
knowledge ours is the only natural buttermilk produced in Ireland coming
from the churning of the cream, whereas the other buttermilks use a skim
milk base.
Recognising
the increasing number of health-conscious consumers who still demand great
taste (datamonitor 2002 research has shown that when asked what makes a
speciality product best of its kind, 84% of speciality food consumers
responded TASTE), Sheila’s (Mayo) Ltd. have developed a ProBiotic
butter–still full of the creamy flavour but now containing friendly
bacteria to help digestion. To the best of our knowledge this is the first
and only ProBiotic Butter in the world.
Butters and buttermilk are produced to the highest quality
under stringent hygiene conditions – the company was rated excellent in a
recent Department of Agriculture / Food Safety Authority of Ireland audit.
All products are tested in a
laboratory prior to dispatch to our customers.
