A WORKINGTON based jam and preserve business has scooped two awards in this years Great Taste Awards- a national competition recognising all the best in the food sector.
Clare Walker, 58 ,owner of the Cumbrian Coastal Kitchen, runs the business from High Harrington in Workington.
She started the business in 2019, initially with an ethos to use home-grown fruit or fruit grown locally in order to create jams and chutneys, initially starting selling her jams on small markets across the area, the business has grown throughout the last five years.
Clare said: "It's sort of grown from there, now I do a range of things: I do fruit infused vinegars, marmalades and I also sell honey on behalf of other people.
"I go to food festivals, farmers markets and I am in about 11 shops."
Cumbrian Coastal Kitchen won their first Great Taste Award in 2022, going on to win an award last year for one of her jams and then two awards for her jams at the Great Taste Awards 2024.
Clare said: "It's really good (to get the recognition from the Great Taste Awards) back in 2022 I entered initially to get some feedback and then I won a two star award, which apparently is quite unusual to win a two star on your first attempt.
"It sort of reinforces that you are going in the right direction and your doing the right things, I make everything on a small scale using a traditional method and so it just reinforces that it is working and you are doing the right thing."
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This year Clare won awards for her Blackcurrant Jam and Damson Jam, she said: "People love the damson one because the damsons are grown locally here in Cumbria, down in the Lythe Valley.
"I have got a bit of a following now, when I am at markets people will say things like' have you got this, have you got that, I really like this' - they give you a feedback and it's really nice that you have got people who appreciate what you are doing."
At the start of this year Clare has really pushed to try and get into more shops, increasing from four to eleven since the start of 2024, and has said the awards have helped with the expansion of her products into more stores.
To find out more about the jams and marmalades you can visit Cumbrian Coastal Kitchen on Facebook or click here.
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