Welsh Speciality Foods
HTM Business Park, Abergele Road,
Rhuddlan
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My father Trevor Jones who had been in the food industry all his life set up Welsh Speciality Foods in his retirement and began selling handmade jams and marmalades to friends and former customers. Three decades later Welsh Speciality Foods is one of the country’s most respected brands.
We have moved on a bit since those early days and now operate out of our unit in Rhuddlan, North Wales. Listings with Asda, Co-op, Waitrose and foods service wholesalers Castell Howell Foods and Harlech Foods complement contracts with the independent trade the length and breadth of Wales. We have placed products into the Senedd in Cardiff Bay and are currently targeting new clients and consumers with rebranded labeling and logos, an improved website and further expansion is also planned.
We like to think of our products as being traditional with a modern twist. All our handmade jams meet the Extra Jam standard which highlights the very high fruit content, it's the same with our handmade marmalades, more fruit, more flavour. Our philosophy of sourcing quality ingredients and using traditional recipes to provide wonderful products is still true today, that will never change. We strive to offer the best products in their category at a price that makes them readily available to everyone.
We have a fantastically diverse range of more than 80 products and it is always difficult when asked to highlight our favourite product, but my personal favourite is our Onion Marmalade. Its extremely versatile with customers telling me they have it with cooked breakfasts, in sandwiches and with crackers and cheese and most recently an addition to beef stroganoff.
Our handmade ranges are made in honest traditional ways using copper bottomed pans in very small batches. We achieve only the very highest of standards, there are no compromises, only the best goes in to our jars.
We are a small company and are very flexible, able to quickly develop products specifically to customer requirements. For example we have recently teamed up with Welsh brewer Tomas Watkins to offer a Welsh ale chutney. To be launched in time for St David Day the chutney uses their Cwrw Idris (Idris Ale) and is just fantastic with a big chunk of cheddar.
We receive constant valuable feedback from our customers and although we have a mild Chilli Jelly and hot Chilli Jam, there seems to be need for a very hot version which we are looking forward to developing. It is this keenness that keeps us going, we love to develop new products whether it is because were missing something when cooking for ourselves or we have seen a gap in the market.
We have recently completely revitalised our chutney range and now offer eight handmade varieties, we were able do this with help received from the public at the Royal Welsh Show in Llandridod Wells. There is nothing like having a few thousand people to point you in the right direction.
Proud of our heritage we always endeavor to promote the wonderfully strong culture of Wales and were delighted to receive an invitation from the Welsh Assembly Presiding Officer Rosemary Butler to showcase Welsh food at the Senedd on St David’s Day 2012. This was especially pleasing as this was the inaugural event and we were able to wave the flag as the representative for North Wales.
We have a tremendous passion for Welsh products and it is great to be able to team up with other producers. Kurt Fleming the chef at the Millennium Centre in Cardiff Bay uses our Double Dragon Mustard in his Welsh rarebit along with Colliers powerful Welsh Cheddar and Tomas Watkins rich full bodied Cwrw Gaeaf. We worked with these companies to provide Welsh Rarebit Kits to the media for branding Monday 21st January 2012 as Welsh Rarebit Day. We’re a small nation with a big heart, integrating our expertise in differing areas only serves to strengthen us.
What's next for Welsh Speciality Foods?
Wales is a great holiday destination with people flocking here each year for the beaches, mountain and countryside walks and picture post card villages. Many pick up a jar or two of ours and then phone here to ask where they can buy it when back home. We want to be able to offer these customer better access to our range and are arranging to do so with Wales’ largest wholesaler Castell Howell Foods.
We have also worked on a supplier development programme with Asda gaining four listings for our Onion Marmalade, Spicy Tomato Chutney, Mint Sauce and Chilli Jam. These are available in 20 stores across Wales; we would like to see this relationship develop in the future. Our rebranded (Celtic knot) label has great potential for further adoption by the national retailers and we will be working hard to make this happen.
David Jones
April 2013
