From My Home Kitchen to Your Shelves, A Note From Melanie

I was working out of my home kitchen, labelling jars by hand and getting them ready for my very first Saturday Market on Salt Spring Island, Easter weekend of 2011.

I had no idea what I was getting into.

Those first batches were a lot of fun to make. Then I realized that making them once meant making them again the next week, and the week after that. I never set out to build a business, and I certainly never pictured it becoming what it is today, in shops across Canada.

That first year was pivotal, and I didn't do it alone. I was making jam on the side of my day job, and it was becoming a lot. My husband, Richard, didn't hesitate. He told me to go all in. No questions about finances, just support. He's part of the business in a very different role now, one we couldn't grow without. My kids came along to markets and events, where they were put to work labelling jars and carrying boxes. Our home kitchen turned into a small production kitchen almost overnight.

Saying Yes Before I Was Ready

Some of our earliest support came from Salt Spring Island Cheese Co., who placed orders every week while I was still figuring things out. Their volume was big enough that I was nervous to take on other shops at first. It turned out that volume was seasonal, and I learned to say yes to other opportunities. I got very good at saying yes to things I had no business saying yes to. I always found a way to figure it out.

I could still be selling jam at the market and to a few local stores on my own. The growth from there happened because of the people who believed in what we were making before there was much to believe in. That includes our team, and it includes the shops and partners who took a chance on a new brand and put us on their shelves.

When I stop to think about the trust so many of you have placed in us over the years, it's humbling. Every decision we make is for the long-term health of the business and the people connected to it, and that includes the partners who carry our products and recommend them to their own customers.

We incorporated in 2012 but I'm really fifteen years in, still grateful to be part of the story we're building together, and excited for what comes next.

Thank you for bring here,

Melanie Mulherin
Founder