Jam maker enjoying the fruits of his labor
By Kerry McBride |
December 16, 2012, Sunday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
If you went to Fraser Doherty's family home in Edinburgh and asked nicely, his mum might show you a box of letters from Greenpeace thanking Fraser for his donations of three pounds.
With all the enthusiasm an eight-year-old could muster, Doherty was baking cakes, raising chickens, and making lemonade to raise money for his charity of choice and sending off his carefully packaged donations whenever he could.
Then, at the age of 14, Doherty spent an afternoon in his grandmother Susan's kitchen making jam. Little did he know, it was the first step on the road to business ownership.
He now runs SuperJam, a company specializing in 100 percent pure fruit jam that supplies some of Britain's biggest supermarket chains.
Doherty recently visited Shanghai to speak about his experiences in business as part of the British Council SmartTalk series.
"I definitely never would have imagined that the afternoon I spent making jam would turn into what it has, or that making jam could become my career at all."
"But my parents were always the type who said I should do something I enjoy. When I told them I wanted to make a career out of jam, they probably didn't think it would work. Regardless, they thought that if it was fun and what I believed in, then they shouldn't discourage it."
While his donations to causes close to his heart may now be a tad bigger - the 23-year-old is the winner of numerous innovation awards and millions of jars of SuperJam have been sold - Doherty has kept his feet on the ground.
"Part of it is that I never really imagined it would become what it was, so I just took it step by step.
"When I was selling jam at farmers' markets it was just something I did in the evenings and weekends which I thought was a lot of fun."
By the time Doherty was 20, he had taken those jars of homemade jams, developed them, branded them, and was supplying them to supermarkets across the country.
His success could be put down to the fact that he never shied away from a challenge - even when he was knocked back by a supermarket after spending a year redeveloping his product, Doherty never gave up on his dream.
"I'd spent a year on it. I'd put all my money and all my love into this idea and it hadn't worked. That was a day when family and friends said they would give up if they were in my shoes, but I knew that this was something I wanted to keep at.
"So I listened to the customer instead of the people around me who were telling me to give up because they didn't want to see me get hurt."
People can simply be too afraid of a risk not paying off, Doherty believes.
"They're afraid of giving their idea a shot, of what might go wrong, they're afraid that they could lose everything."
"But in reality you've got very little to lose, especially when you're young. It's a great time to take risks and try things."
One of the best parts of being such a young business owner is getting to meet other young people with big plans, Doherty said.
"I do feel really passionately that starting a business has changed my life and has been the most amazing experience.
"I just hope I can encourage other young people to not be afraid of giving their ideas a shot and starting a business."
Whenever he receives an email from a child or young adult with a question about how he got started, Doherty always makes the time to give them a few words of encouragement.
"None of this would have been possible if it wasn't for the people who replied to my emails when I was 15 or 16. I couldn't have done it without advice so I want to make sure I can do the same."
Not one for massive 10-year plans, Doherty is excited about seeing where SuperJam takes him next.
"Some people might tell you that you should map out your perfect life and where you'll be in 20 years. Maybe that works for some people, but I think the most important thing in life is being open to what opportunities come along."
Wherever it does take him, Doherty is determined to always keep his hand in the cooking side of the business.
He has even developed cookery books based on his family jam recipes.
"I do love cooking. The amazing thing is the feeling of creating something, when I go to the supermarket and see something I created on the shelf that's an amazing feeling.
"To imagine millions of people putting something I created on their toast in the morning is mindblowing."
As for his grandmother Susan, she is simply stoked that her family recipe is such a hit.
"She can't believe it, but is very proud, of course. She goes into the supermarket and makes sure all the labels are facing the right way."
With all the enthusiasm an eight-year-old could muster, Doherty was baking cakes, raising chickens, and making lemonade to raise money for his charity of choice and sending off his carefully packaged donations whenever he could.
Then, at the age of 14, Doherty spent an afternoon in his grandmother Susan's kitchen making jam. Little did he know, it was the first step on the road to business ownership.
He now runs SuperJam, a company specializing in 100 percent pure fruit jam that supplies some of Britain's biggest supermarket chains.
Doherty recently visited Shanghai to speak about his experiences in business as part of the British Council SmartTalk series.
"I definitely never would have imagined that the afternoon I spent making jam would turn into what it has, or that making jam could become my career at all."
"But my parents were always the type who said I should do something I enjoy. When I told them I wanted to make a career out of jam, they probably didn't think it would work. Regardless, they thought that if it was fun and what I believed in, then they shouldn't discourage it."
While his donations to causes close to his heart may now be a tad bigger - the 23-year-old is the winner of numerous innovation awards and millions of jars of SuperJam have been sold - Doherty has kept his feet on the ground.
"Part of it is that I never really imagined it would become what it was, so I just took it step by step.
"When I was selling jam at farmers' markets it was just something I did in the evenings and weekends which I thought was a lot of fun."
By the time Doherty was 20, he had taken those jars of homemade jams, developed them, branded them, and was supplying them to supermarkets across the country.
His success could be put down to the fact that he never shied away from a challenge - even when he was knocked back by a supermarket after spending a year redeveloping his product, Doherty never gave up on his dream.
"I'd spent a year on it. I'd put all my money and all my love into this idea and it hadn't worked. That was a day when family and friends said they would give up if they were in my shoes, but I knew that this was something I wanted to keep at.
"So I listened to the customer instead of the people around me who were telling me to give up because they didn't want to see me get hurt."
People can simply be too afraid of a risk not paying off, Doherty believes.
"They're afraid of giving their idea a shot, of what might go wrong, they're afraid that they could lose everything."
"But in reality you've got very little to lose, especially when you're young. It's a great time to take risks and try things."
One of the best parts of being such a young business owner is getting to meet other young people with big plans, Doherty said.
"I do feel really passionately that starting a business has changed my life and has been the most amazing experience.
"I just hope I can encourage other young people to not be afraid of giving their ideas a shot and starting a business."
Whenever he receives an email from a child or young adult with a question about how he got started, Doherty always makes the time to give them a few words of encouragement.
"None of this would have been possible if it wasn't for the people who replied to my emails when I was 15 or 16. I couldn't have done it without advice so I want to make sure I can do the same."
Not one for massive 10-year plans, Doherty is excited about seeing where SuperJam takes him next.
"Some people might tell you that you should map out your perfect life and where you'll be in 20 years. Maybe that works for some people, but I think the most important thing in life is being open to what opportunities come along."
Wherever it does take him, Doherty is determined to always keep his hand in the cooking side of the business.
He has even developed cookery books based on his family jam recipes.
"I do love cooking. The amazing thing is the feeling of creating something, when I go to the supermarket and see something I created on the shelf that's an amazing feeling.
"To imagine millions of people putting something I created on their toast in the morning is mindblowing."
As for his grandmother Susan, she is simply stoked that her family recipe is such a hit.
"She can't believe it, but is very proud, of course. She goes into the supermarket and makes sure all the labels are facing the right way."
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