Keswick-based chef Jake Winter has joined forces with David Seymour of Lingholm at Portinscale to take over the long-established Cumbrian preserve maker Wild & Fruitful.
Jake, who won the Shelia Hensman Award for outstanding contribution to excellence in the catering and hospitality industry at the 2019 Cumbria Tourism awards, has a passion for making preserves and relishes having run a part time business from home supplying his own recipes for the last two years.
The step up to a full-time career running his own preserve making business is a long-held dream for Jake, who is a self-confessed passionate Cumbrian foodie.
Wild & Fruitful, which has been established for more than 20 years, has a strong ethos of using locally grown produce and reducing food miles. The company already has strong relationships with individual Cumbrian growers using fresh local country produce, whether from an allotment producing vegetables, or a hedgerow packed full of plump blackberries.
Jake’s passion for Cumbrian produce has already forged new partnerships with local growers and ingredient suppliers, and some exciting new collaborations with well-known drinks manufacturers in the county such as The Lakes Distillery, Keswick Brewery and Carvetii Coffee roasters.
He said: “We use a traditional open pan method. Every product we make is 100 per cent natural with no artificial colours or additives. We make everything in small batches following recipes that have been skilfully developed to bring out the taste of the wonderful country produce we use.”
The whole range of products has been completely revamped and is now being relaunched with attractive new labelling reflecting the quality of ingredients used. Jake and David have also used the coronavirus lockdown period to completely refit their kitchens, and have recently installed new filling and labelling equipment so that orders can be supplied promptly from stock. A full range of catering packs has also been introduced and are now available from stock to hotels, restaurants, and cafes.
The company is also set to grow further afield as Jake and David look for stockists across the country and overseas as they try and spread a little taste of Cumbria into larders worldwide.
