When I started this business, I had no knowledge of milking cows, let alone a sheep, or proper cheesemaking, but ignorance is bliss. I was a farmer's wife with four kids. I started cheesemaking because my friend, an osteopath, had a lot of clients who had intolerance to cow's milk, and had to change their diets. One of her clients kept sheep, the milk of which is relatively non-allergic. I did research on it, and so the bug bit. In 1987, we developed Yorkshire feta, which was our first cheese, along with yogurts and soft cream cheese (strained through muslin). We touted around the local outlets at the end of 1987-early 1988, but we didn't have a dairy built - we were producing it in the kitchen. We then built a small-scale dairy and started production at the end of 1988. I was reasonably confident, but isolated.
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