Dairy Sheep Symposium - the Department of Animal Sciences ...

Products
1. Shepherd’s Way Farms’ product list currently includes two products already offered for retail
sales. The first cheese offered, Friesago, is a semi-hard cheese with a smooth, slightly nutty
flavor, reminiscent of Manchego or Parmesan, with a grainy texture and wonderful after
flavor. The second cheese, Queso Fresco de Oveja, is a fresh cheese offered in two flavors,
plain and herb and garlic. Both cheeses are versatile as great table and cooking cheeses.
2. Both products are unique to Shepherd’s Way Farms and marketed as trademarked products,
with registered trademark status being considered.
3. Non-imported artisan sheep cheeses are very few. Shepherd’s Way Farms products align well
with such competitors as Old Chattham and Vermont Shepherd. Shepherd’s Way Farms
cheeses are distinct from other sheep cheeses and provide versatility and affordability.
Manuracturing Process
1. The materials used in the processing of cheese are the source milk, vegetarian rennet, enzymes,
salt and in some cases, flavoring.
2. Our product is manufactured by pumping milk from a storage tank through a high temperature/short
time (HTST) pasteurizer. This type of equipment affords us a great deal of flexibility
that is not typically available to small producers. After the necessary heating time, the
milk is transferred to the cheese vats through a cooling system. At the appropriate temperature
for a specific type of cheese, rennet and then a culture is added. The curd once formed,
is harped (cut) and cooked, if necessary, until the appropriate ph level is reached. At this
time, the whey is drained and the curd is hooped into the correct moulds or forms.
The Future
Long-term development calls for the Farm to expand to meet production needs as demand
continues to increase. Shepherd’s Way Farms will continue to expand it’s client base to include
outlets throughout the United States, focusing on major metropolitan areas. The planned addition
of a small herd of Kerry cattle will allow the production of a farmstead cow cheese to expand the
consumer base. Additional products include a sheep milk soap, which was well received in an
initial test market, sheep’s milk butter in response to consistent demand from both retailers and
chefs, and lamb and mutton specialty sausages.
The Northfield Club
In November 2001, we initiated a subscription based cheese club called the Northfield Club.
We invite individuals and businesses to join us in pursuit of our goals by subscribing to the
Northfield Club with membership fees for set periods of time. With their membership, subscribers
will receive quarterly deliveries of our artisan, farmstead cheeses for their personal enjoyment.
In addition, members will have the opportunity to try any of our new cheeses before they
are available publicly. Members will also have the option of substituting their cheese orders with
any of the other products available from Shepherd’s Way Farms.
This club allows us not only to capture a share of the growing gourmet mail order market, but
also to favorably position ourselves as one of the very few farm based distributors of artisan
cheeses and products. At this time, all of the current gourmet clubs identified by our marketing
research show only general distributors with no direct producer linkages. By inviting subscribers