Yorkshire cheesemaker ramps up investment in sheep milk to support farmers through pandemic

A Yorkshire cheesemaker has announced that it is supporting sheep milk farmers by increasing its orders.

Shepherds Purse has reported today that it is increasing its weekly sheep’s milk order by 75 per cent to help combat sheep farmers’ loss of business due to the pandemic.

The company said that sheep milk has been “disproportionately affected” by the closure of restaurants, reporting that sheep milk farmers lost 20 out of 22 processors over the course of a few days.

To support the suppliers, the company is creating a new product, Fettle - the Yorkshire equivalent of feta.

Simon Stott of Sheep Milk UK commented: “Any help we can get at the moment is vital and this new Fettle product is a big lifeline for us.

“Some of our farmers have already had to dry off due to the massive drop in demand, so the future of the British Sheep milk industry is still far from secure.”

Caroline Bell, managing director of Shepherds Purse, added: “From the beginning of the crisis, we have been acutely aware of our place in the food chain and our responsibility to support our suppliers and our customers as much as possible.

“We rely on them and they rely on us. Every change in the supply chain and every gap has significant knock-on effects.

“We’re working hard for our cow’s milk and water buffalo milk suppliers too, but with this project we are working hard to counter the market distress for our sheep milk farmers, and we will need the support of retailers, and ultimately customers, to ensure its success.

“It has taken a tremendous amount of work from our small team and our key partners to get this reformatted product ready for market so quickly.

“From making the extra cheese to designing and printing the labels and the outer case packaging, and extra design work for the campaign, it’s been incredible, I couldn’t be more proud of our team and our partners.

“It’s been essential that we have invested in and continue to support our sheep milk farmers so that they can survive this crisis by making this amazing Fettle cheese, and now we really need our retailers’ and customers’ support to achieve that final step - to get it onto customers’ plates.

“The extent to which we can continue to buy extra milk from the farmers to help to ensure their survival through this crisis, will depend on how much of this new Fettle, and our other cheeses, customers can buy and enjoy.”