Getting fired after 29 1/2 years at one place (yes I know that shows me as OLD) is kind of like getting hit upside the head. You are sad that you got decked but glad it hasn’t killed you. I was sort of bitter but at the same time knew that there had to be a better life out there.
I had always gotten rave revues on the fruit spread I made for my family. Now here, perhaps I should back up. My Mom never made a traditional jam because none of us would have eaten it. We found jam to be too sweet. I suppose it is because living on a farm with a passel of kids we ate so much fruit and most of it was fresh or with minimal amounts of sugar. I was not a kid who loved sugar on everything. I clearly remember the best way to eat the “Duplex” sandwich cookies that are still sold today. Carefully twist them apart, scrape away the frosting, toss it, them eat the cookie halves! So when I made my fruit spread I used a pectin that did not require sugar to jell, instead it used calcium.
I decided now was the time to give my fruit spread a shot as a business. I began to organize ideas, fine tune my recipes, and jumped in. I found I enjoyed promoting my product. I also eventually found that I had underestimated a few things. Selling fruit spread at a farmers’ market in our rural area was hard as many people still make jam. Most people don’t have the interest in nutrition that I do and don’t realize the sugar content of jams is over 60%! (My spreads were 28-31%) Because our family likes it frozen over heat-sealed and getting licensed for a frozen product was easier, I chose to market it frozen. It does taste better but in a cooler at the market, it is not visible enough. Having to load and unload the cooler got old fast.
So while I gave out lots and lots of samples I watched other vendors make more sales. I cast around for something else I could sell. Why not make some of those cheese-coated almond slices I made for the kids and had given away to co-workers at Christmas? I bought a 25 pound box and started baking. I called my son to make up some labels and come up with a name for them. In 8 hours at two markets I sold over seven pounds!
Things went well for about 2 weeks. Then I stated to get questions. “These are good but what other flavors do you have?” Oh-oh. I didn’t have any but instead of saying this I asked what they would like to see. I found out later this is market research tool and a very good thing to do. I began to formulate Sour Cream and Onion and tried it out by handing out samples and asking for opinions. It took a few tries and then I found another need, new labels to accommodate different flavors. Southwest, Honey Maple and Ranch followed. As you might suppose, a few more needs arose to.
