Naming has never come easy to our family. I think with four children, and a menagerie of family pets over the years, naming fatigue had set in for the founders of the business, Judy and Nigel (Mum and Dad) In fact, I'm their youngest child and by the time it came to naming me, they'd already had enough - they let my brother choose my name, I was named after a family friend - one of his favourite people though.
So, it was no wonder that, as Judy's idea of making cheese from sheep's milk progressed into launching as a bonafide business, the act of choosing a name for the business was tipped down to the bottom of the priority list.
Eventually, a meeting with a marketing consultant, the bank and the accountants added the pressure needed to make a decision. You do have to have a name to trade. Judy and Nigel toyed with names that represented our family or our farm, our provenance. Could we use our family name, or did we have names for any of the farm buildings? What grew on the farm? Some of the famous dairy brands are named after plants.
Dad then had a moment of pride as he remembered the latin name of a plant/weed that grows on the farm - Capsella bursa-pastoris. The only latin he remembers from his college days!
"And what is that?" asked Judy, slightly fatigued by the conversation. She had cheese to make.
"Shepherds Purse of course" proclaimed Nigel with his chest slightly puffed up, trade mark cheeky grin on his face.
A perfect name! We would be making sheep's milk cheeses "shepherd", and we were going to make a range of them - a "purse".
Done.
Everyone in the room agreed. And we've been having to explain the name ever since!
Caroline x
Extra bit: When I bought my first home in Harrogate, growing in the back yard was some beautiful Shepherds Purse ... I took it as a sign that I was making a good choice.
