The Rural Voice, 1990-10, Page 261
GOURMET FOOD IDEA
COMES TO FRUITION
AN ENTERPRISING FARM COUPLE COOKS UP A WINNER
BY DARENE YAVORSKY WITH PHOTOS BY DANIEL HOLM
When the gods of Greek mythology
fed the soul, they didn't settle for the
common hot dog. They partook of
ambrosia, literally: 'food of the gods.'
When Trish and Colin Neilson created
their special fruit preserves, they
wanted a distinctive name that would
elevate their gourmet food products
above the status of ordinary jam. The
name they chose was `Jambrosia.'
The Neilsons' line of wild
blueberry, strawberry and raspberry
jambrosia sets itself apart from jams,
spreads and other berry toppings by its
Trish checks the growing list
of customers who distribute
the Neilsons' honey and
jambrosia products.
The Neilsons' jambrosia
venture owes its success to a
lot of hard work. Labelling
and packaging alone took
months to prepare.
high proportion of pure fruit. No
sugar is added; instead, honey is used
to lightly sweeten the jambrosia, with
a touch of lemon for tang.
"It's not jam," says Trish
emphatically. "That's the first thing I
tell people."
The jambrosia business is a new
addition to the Neilsons' farm north of
Stratton, in the Rainy River district of
northwestern Ontario. Their 450 acres
support a feeder cattle operation, hay
production for local sale, and a recent
foray into the pedigreed seed market.
The first jars of jambrosia were
sold from Trish and Colin's home just
before last Christmas. In less than a
year, the Neilsons' Rainy River
Preserves Co. has found distributors
not only in Emo and Fort Frances and
other nearby communities, but as far
away as Kenora, Thunder Bay and
even Toronto and the Ottawa valley.
Grocery stores sell their individual jars
of jambrosia and Meadowfresh honey;
gift shops, tourist establishments and
department stores, such as Simpson's,
stock their attractively boxed
selections which sometimes include a
popular local specialty, wild rice.
Behind the apparent early success
of this venture is a winning
combination of creativity, persistence
and hard work. It all began quite
simply when, four years ago, Colin
acquired a hive of bees. "I looked
after those, extracted the honey, and
decided to expand," says Colin.
Realizing that there was already plenty
of honey being sold, he asked himself,
"Why not try to find a different way to
market it, as a gourmet food or
specialty food? That's how we got
started."
Trish, in her position as executive
director of the Rainy River Business
Development Corporation, was aware
that food gift items were increasing in
popularity.
Using their own honey to create a
nutritional food product from local
fruit was the basis of a market study
the Neilsons conducted in 1988. A
professional consultant designed the
survey which examined the feasibility
of a regional market for what they
then defined as "berry fruit crop
products and honey products."
Response to the survey showed a
modest opportunity, suggesting the
need to come up with a specialty
product of wider appeal.
Trish says her work at the
RRBDC only partly prepared her for
22 THE RURAL VOICE