We began Shepherds Purse Artisan Cheeses in the late 1980’s after our Mum, Judy Bell, discovered her passion and talent for cheese making as she set out on a mission to create quality dairy alternatives for cow’s milk allergy sufferers.

We have grown organically over the years. Having started by making cheese only from sheep milk, we extended our range to include cow's milk and even water buffalo milk cheeses. Today, we are best known for our blue cheeses Yorkshire Blue and Harrogate Blue, and for our sheep milk Mediterranean salad-style cheese, Mrs Bell's Salad Cheese as well as our sheep milk blue Mrs Bell's Blue.

As Shepherds Purse has grown, we remain a proud, independent family business, making cheese in the traditional way on our farm in North Yorkshire. The Shepherds Purse team is now a team of 35 passionate artisans being led by Judy’s two daughters Katie and Caroline.