MY LIGHT BULB MOMENT

Jenny costa, 31, launched Rubies In the Rubble six years ago, using rejected fruit and vegetables to make chutneys and relishes. she lives in London with her husband Henry, who works in financial technology.

IN NOVEMBER 2010 I read an article on food waste which made me realise what a shocking amount of usable food is thrown away. I had grown up with my mum making chutney from her veg garden and it dawned on me that I could do the same — but on a bigger scale.

At the time, I had a great job in the City, but I knew if I spent my life doing something I wasn’t passionate about I’d be disappointed.

When I quit my job to launch Rubies In The Rubble, my boss said: ‘Make sure you do it full-heartedly. If you do it half on and half off, you’ll always wonder if it could have worked.’ It was great advice.

I left my expensive flat and moved into a friend’s spare bedroom and started making batches of chutney to sell on a market stall.

I was so naive. I assumed I’d be stocked nationwide within a year! But six months in, my savings were running out and business wasn’t going too well. Gradually I got some regulars and sales picked up. Christmas was amazing — everyone loves chutney at Christmas!

My experience has taught me that some things fail at the time, only to succeed later. We had a banana chutney that never sold. I thought, ‘we’ve got to get rid of it’, but when we did, we received a flood of furious emails — the people who bought it loved it on burgers. We relaunched it as a ketchup in a bottle, and it won a Great Taste award. Now it’s a big seller.

Today I have three factories and our range is stocked from Ocado to Fortnum’s. If I hadn’t risked failure, I’d never have known the satisfaction of true success doing something you’re passionate about.