A big cheese, made from the milk of human kindness

Louis Grubb is well known as one half of Cashel Blue, the award-winning farmhouse cheese brand he founded with his wife Jane on their farm near Fethard in County Tipperary. Less well known is that Louis is a committed and generous supporter of Christian Aid Ireland whose donations reach people living in poverty and crisis around the world. Lisa Fagan spoke to the kind-hearted entrepreneur.

Born in 1944 into a Quaker family in south Tipperary, Louis took over the 200-acre farm after his father died in 1979 and borrowed money to buy a dairy herd. ‘Those were anxious times and we had many sleepless nights, worrying about the very real prospect of bankruptcy.’

His fortunes picked up in 1984 when his wife Jane began making cheese at their kitchen table. In the almost 40 years since then, the company has grown to become a global brand with a turnover last year of more than €3.5 million. These days, the company is managed by Louis and Jane’s only child, Sarah Furno.

Why does he support Christian Aid’s work?

‘I’ve had a lot of blessings in my life – good health and a wife who’s put up with me for 50 years. And I’ve always felt that a Christian should be giving to help others if they can. I support a couple of other charities but I’ve been with Christian Aid the longest.’

In 2012, he visited Christian Aid’s projects in Haiti. What did the experience teach him? ‘It was the utter poverty. I met a man who was unravelling an old hessian sack to make it into rope because he had no money.

‘I met young Haitians who’d been to America to earn a few bob and they came back to Haiti to build a house. In years gone by, Irish people went to England and Scotland to pick potatoes and later to work on building sites, and when they’d gathered up a few pounds, they’d come home to build a house too. We have more in common with people in developing countries than we think.’

Why does Louis give to charity?

Like many of his generation, Louis is thrifty, preferring to give to others than spend lavishly on himself: ‘I have a 50-year-old boat on the Shannon and we pootle about on it. It’s an old yoke and we get tossed about on the waves but I’ve never thought I should splash out on a new boat when that money could be better spent helping people living in poverty.

‘There’s a lot of pleasure to be had in being able to give. You might miss the money at first but that feeling passes after a while. Giving and knowing that you’ve helped someone is its own reward.’

Louis’ generosity has transformed lives in Haiti, India and Nigeria. If you would like to find out more about our current projects and how you too can help to eradicate poverty, please contact Sarah Leeman on sleeman@christian-aid.org or through either of our offices - contact details on page 2.