Welsh Lady unveils new wares at food trade event
AFTER more than half a century producing award-winning jams and chutneys, Welsh Lady Preserves has this week launched its latest batch of products ready for the UK’s leading food and drink trade event – Food & Drink Expo 2018.
Welsh Lady Preserves will be showcasing five new chutneys, two new curds and three 285g sauces at the event, which finishes tomorrow at the NEC in Birmingham.
The north Wales company, which was founded by Dio and Marion Jones, is now run by the second generation of the family – son John and his wife Carol.
The company employs 20-25 people at its base in Pwllheli, many of whom are from the locality and who have been working for the company for years.
Mrs Jones, the firm’s business development manager, said: “When my in-laws decided to retire, we were determined to keep the business in the family. Welsh Lady is our life and to have let it go would have been a tremendous wrench.”
Last year Welsh Lady under went a rebrand and since then has seen sales shoot up by 70%.
Also, the more recent introduction of 28g glass jars – which have been an instant hit – for the hospitality and tourism sectors has helped the business boom, with orders coming in from enterprises large and small.
Taking centre stage at Welsh Lady’s stand at Food & Drink Expo will be its new range of chutneys – lime, mango, spiced carrot, piccalilli, and balsamic and onion relish – along with two new curds, passion fruit, and mango and passion fruit.
These are joined by three 285g table sauces, all of which come in old-style “school milk” glass bottles – Sôs Coch (tomato ketchup), Sôs Brown (brown sauce), and Sôs Barbeciw (barbecue sauce).
Former teacher Mrs Jones said: “We are delighted to be introducing these new products at Food & Drink Expo. As a company, we always like to try something new and some of the varieties we’ve created have come from public requests.
“We do a lot of food festivals, and people have been asking for older-style recipes such as piccalilli and carrot chutney, so we have created a new range to include those flavours.”