Jelly business grows at home
It started with “a ton of extra cucumbers” from the family garden but quickly morphed into the Jones Canning Co. of White Hall.
Amanda Jones, company proprietor, said that after her husband, Terik Jones, was transferred to the Tyson Foods Pine Bluff complex, her in-laws, Tony and Jeanette Jones of Carroll County were sending them produce from their garden, including the cucumbers.
Terik Jones is the assistant complex manager at Tyson.
The couple, along with their two daughters, had moved to White Hall in 2019, which meant Jones resigned her job before the move. Jones, who has a degree in food science from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, was also employed there.
“I worked for Tyson Foods Inc. for 15 years in quality assurance and margin management [departments]. During that time, I was able to spend time working closely with marketing and research and development teams to learn the process of flavor selection and development,” Jones said.
FROM FAMILY TO FARMERS MARKET
Jones made her first cucumber jelly in 2019, which she describes as tasting similar to bread and butter pickles, and it was an immediate hit with family and friends.
Thus, the Jones Canning Co. was born.
As she became more serious about her 3-year-old “side business,” Jones relied on her training and experience to pair new flavorings such as watermelon with sriracha or strawberries with kiwi, her daughter Ella’s favorite.
“I look for flavors that are unique and create depth,” Jones said.
Eventually, she paired cucumbers with jalapeno. One customer declared it “Jesus jelly,” because it was so hot that it brought him closer to God.
“Anything with jalapenos is popular,” Jones said last weekend at the Pine Bluff Farmers Market.
Now, there are flavors like peppered pear, sweet tea and blackberry jalapeno, but of course, there are old favorites like apple, muscadine, strawberry and pear.
“The pear jelly is a family recipe,” Jones said.
She also sells a spiced apple butter and several preserves. They’re unlike jams, which rely on mashed fruits instead of the diced fruits used in preserves, Jones explained.
Her lineup has grown to include about two dozen flavors and she is working on more.
In addition to online sales, Jones sells holiday gift boxes, which are made from reclaimed wood by her fatherin-law Tony Jones.
Her hot pear jelly is in-demand especially at Christmas. In Northwest Arkansas, her cucumber and apple jellies are bestsellers, while in this area, folks are partial to muscadine and watermelon flavors.
“People like jellies” and Jones said she has found a market for her product in Northwest and Central Arkansas. Her Facebook page is filled with praise and people asking about her next trip to their farmers markets like the comments from Donna Kay Coleman.
“I’ve tried three or four different kinds, all were very tasty,” she said before making a suggestion. “Cream cheese with the pepper jelly on top makes a delicious dip served with crackers,” Coleman said.
Lana Kay Wilson is a fan of her spiced apple butter and blackberry jelly.
FUTURE FLAVORS
While hesitant to share her research in its entirety, she said she is working on a fig preserve.
“Once I get pears this year, we will be bringing back our Bourbon Pear Butter, which was a huge hit,” Jones said.
She’s also planning on “a classic plain peach jam” but for those who want more, she said, “I am working on a maple whiskey peach flavor, mint jelly, and hopefully a squash relish.”
KEEPING IT ARKANSAS GROWN
As with her first batch of cucumber jelly, she keeps her product homegrown or from a trusted market. Some of her fruit comes word of mouth.
“Once people heard what we were doing, they would call, saying, ‘We have a tree covered in apples,” Jones said.
She also buys fresh products from local sources. “There’s a guy in Star City where I get muscadines,” she said.
She gets pawpaw fruit, also known as the Ozark banana, from Northwest Arkansas, and she said, “We used fresh strawberries from the Cabot Patch to make strawberry, strawberry lemonade and strawberry kiwi jellies.”
Both her daughters, Ella, 11, and Lindley, 8, help with the jelly production, and last week Ella was learning how to count change at the farmers market.
Before the covid-19 shutdown, Jones often spoke at Moody Elementary School about jelly, where it comes from and basic food preservation.