Young Entrepreneurs - Fraser Doherty
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Fraser Doherty started his jam-making business at the age of 14.
In an interview with Make Your Mark, he described his entrepreneurial journey.
I have always been a big fan of jam and since I was about eight years old I had lots of little projects on the go, trying different ways of making pocket money.
I suppose in some ways it was inevitable that I would start my own food business given that enterprise and food have always been my two passions in life!
The catalyst came when my Gran taught me her top secret jam recipe and I had something of a 'eureka' moment when I realised I could make jam myself and sell it door to door in the local area.
Fraser On Entrepreneurship
Fraser's jams and marmalades were an instant hit when he started selling them door to door, and demand from farmers' markets and delis soon had him producing up to 1000 jars per week in his kitchen at home.
Some of Fraser's early success was due to his previous selling experience - he had been selling bacon door to door for two years, and was the wholesaler's top salesboy in Edinborough before starting his jam business.
In 2004, aged just fifteen, Fraser won an Enterprising Young Brit award.
He encountered some of the obsctacles which typically frustrate young entrepreneurs, such as being unable to join a business networking organisation because he was under sixteen.
Despite the difficulties of being such a young business owner, Fraser took a businessman's eye to his business. Noticing that the overall market for jams was in decline, he identified a niche and began innovating his products.
Probably the hardest thing I've had to do so far has been finding a way of making jam without using any sugar at all. This has taken about four months to develop but I am now able to make 100% fruit jams, sweetened with fruit juice rather than sugar.
These are very healthy and with more than two thirds of people in this country overweight or obese, the demand for these is clearly massive. The major supermarkets have expressed an interest in stocking them once I'm able to produce large enough volumes, so things are getting increasingly exciting and also very challenging.
The sugar-free jams were launched in 2006.
Fraser Doherty Wins 2007 Global Student Entrepreneur Award
The 2007 Global Student Entrepreneur Award went to Fraser Doherty and his business, SuperJam.
Before going off to the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, he devoted a year to developing a recipe for his "Super Jam" made entirely from fruit and fruit juice high in nutrients. When he finished, he had a manufacturing partner and contracts at some of the biggest grocery retailers in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Eat Super Ltd. was born. read more ...
By the time he was seventeen, his jams were being stocked by major supermarket chains. Michael Simpson Jones, the buyer of preserves for Waitrose, said, "Waitrose has a long history of working with smaller scale suppliers, like Fraser, as it allows us to offer customers real diversity of choice.
"I was bowled over by Fraser's passion as a producer, and that a 17-year-old had such strong entrepreneurial skills.
"Fraser has managed to take a product that's regarded as old-fashioned and has completely reinvented it, giving it an up-to-date make-over."
The rapid growth eventually forced Fraser to spend his "gap year" between high school and university organising production of his jams in a factory, a challenging process, which was filmed for a Channel 4 documentary.
He is now a university student in Glasgow, studying business and accounting. He says that he is prepared to take time off from his studies if the pressures of business require it.
Once my time gets ‘jam-packed' I'd probably end up making a bad job of uni and the business if I tried to do them both.
Chin up, Fraser, it might not come to that - Ben Casnocha is managing to "have it all"!
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Fraser's advice to other young entrepreneurs from his Make Your Mark interview?
I don't think there's anything inherently difficult about having an idea, starting a business or growing it into a career. The difficulty lies in motivating yourself to get up in the mornings and keep working at the idea until it is finally a success.
Anyone could achieve what I have with just a lot of hard work and a bit of imagination. You really don't need to reinvent the wheel and the best businesses are usually very simple. I started mine in an afternoon with a dozen oranges and a bag of sugar.
That was something anyone could have done, but it's something which has taken a lot of hard work, sacrifice and determination to make into what it is today. I suppose people should just give their idea a shot and if it doesn't work out, try something else.
Fraser's Blog
- Sponsor Joe's Mustache!
Our Joe, seen here sporting a mustache-less face, has been working at SuperJam for a few months. His favorite flavour is Raspberry & Cranberry and the highlight of his job with us so far was meeting Sir Terry Wogan.. Joe has very courageously decided to grow a sponsored mustache throughout the month of November ('Movember'), to raise money for prostate cancer research. SuperJam is going to chip a few hundred pounds into his effort and it would be really wonderful if you could maybe donate a few pounds to the cause here. Hopefully Joe will raise a lot of money for a really worthwhile cause and not too many people will laugh at his silly mustache. (We'll post a picture of his mustache at the end of the month!)
- Various talks on 'The SuperJam Adventure'..
Throughout November and December, i'll be sharing the story of how SuperJam grew from my Gran's kitchen to the supermarket shelves. You'll be able to come along and hear me speak at the following places: Friday 6th Nov - Swindon: New College, 12pm-3pm Tuesday 10th Nov - Aberdeen: Robert Gordon University (The Lemon Tree, 6.30pm) Students only. Tuesday 17th Nov - Middlesbrough: The King's Academy, 12pm-3pm Thursday 19th Nov - Kansas City, USA: Global Student Entrepreneur of The Year Awards Tuesday 24th Nov - Manchester: Philip Allan A-Level student conference Wednesday 25th Nov - Loughborough University, 7pm Thursday 26th Nov - Glasgow: Scotland Food & Drink Forum Tuesday 1st Dec - Lancaster University, 6pm Wednesday 2nd Dec - Merseyside: Pensby High School Friday 4th Dec - Tobermory, Isle of Mull, Tobermory High School Sat 5th / Sun 6th Dec - Edinburgh: Foodies Festival Tuesday 15th Dec - Edinburgh: ChangeWorks Waste conference It's going to be a crazy couple of months and i'm really looking forward to meeting all of the people who come along to my talks. Hopefully see you there!
- SuperJam's Most Northerly Tea Party!
Last week, I was very kindly invited to visit Wick, which is a few miles from John o' Groats (the most Northernly point of mainland Britain). The reason for the trip was to give a few talks at local schools, including to over 300 kids at Wick high school. I also had the pleasure of visiting the Laurandy Centre, which was hosting the most Northerly ever SuperJam tea party for 30 or so elderly guests. It was a really lovely trip and I was shown around by Professor Iain Blaikie, a friend of mine, who organised the trip and is a big believer in getting entrepreneurs, inventors, astronauts and political figures to speak to pupils at the local schools. We even went for lunch on the shortest street in the world, which is in Wick and is about one and a half meters long! Click on a link below for more posts like this one:
- SuperJam Tea Parties wins 'Bighearted Scotland Award'
On Friday I was invited to the 'Bighearted Scotland Awards' in Glasgow, where I was a finalist in the 'Business Person of the Year Category', alongside Michelle Mone, 'curry king' Charan Gill and Mick Jackson of Wild Hearts. The awards were set up to celebrate charitable work done by individuals across Scotland and are sponsored by the News of The World. There were some amazing stories being told and the event highlighted the wonderful work that so many people are doing to help others. I felt very honoured to collect an award in recognition of the impact that The SuperJam Tea Parties is having on the guests who come along. We have run over 120 tea parties in the past year and I am massively grateful to all of the hundred of people who have volunteered to help out - without all of their support, we couldn't have done it! You can read more about the award here, if you like. Click a tab below for more articles like this one:
- Suggest a new SuperJam stockist and get free jam!
We’re constantly working on trying to get SuperJam into new independent stores; upmarket delis, quirky coffee shops and earthy farm shops, as well as B&Bs and hotels. If there’s a particular shop that you visit that you think should stock SuperJam, let us know their details using the form here. If they agree to start selling our wonderful products, we will send you a free jar of jam in the post to thank you for taking the time to help us to spread the love! click a tab below for more articles like this one..
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Comments
It's amazing what kids can accomplish, at the sort of age when our culture expects they will be lounging in their bedrooms listening to music and doodling on their MySpace pages ...
Jenny
As inspiring as this story is, what most people don't realize is that this young man worked his tail off accomplishing what he did. Most people want those results, but aren't willing to put out the effort that Fraser did.
My 14 year old son talks a lot about doing this or that to make a bunch of money. I think he needs to listen to Fraser's story.
Yes, you're right, kids need to hear these stories, not just to get an idea of what is possible, but also to get an idea that it takes effort.
The problem most kids have is that they are required to put in effort at school with often no visible reward to come from it, and then they are given things by their doting families without being required to earn them in any way, so the connection between hard work and rewards isn't being made.
Jenny
jimmurdoch says:
2 years ago
Very inspiring. I love these inovation stories.