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Spotlight on the Producer: Irena, A Bit of a Pickle
We have asked some of the traders who were due to take part in this year's live event to answer our burning foodie questions, so that we can get to know the faces and stories behind these fantastic Welsh food and drink businesses.
The next company under the Spotlight is A Bit of a Pickle, a small family business from Penarth...
1) Describe your company in one sentence.
Homemade Artisan Preserves, traditional small batch made with homegrown ingredients wherever possible – #madeinwales
2) What inspired you to start your own food business?
Coming from a chef family, I have always enjoyed cooking. We started making and exchanging products as Christmas gifts amongst family & friends. Everyone loved them and suggested I do it as a business. The rest is history, as they say!
3) What is the best piece of advice you've received?
The best piece of advice? Well, it has to be 2 pieces really. The 1st would be "just be yourself" and the 2nd would be "enjoy what you do"
4) How have you had to adapt your business during this time?
Our website was already active so most of our business has occurred that way. But we took part in the world's 1st Online Chilli Festival when we live streamed our stall from our back garden. Exciting times! We've also taken part in a few online craft fair and have been offering a free local delivery service
5) Who else on the food producer scene excites or inspires you currently?
There are so many great producers out there that it seems unfair to single any one out
6) What was your favourite childhood meal, and is it still the same?
My favourite meal? Always has been my Mum's pork chop cooked dinner with piles of fresh veg and roasties which are roasted to within minutes of their lives!
7) Who would you invite to your private dinner party?
I would invite my paternal grandfather. I'd ask him the questions I never asked about his life in Poland, his army history and the reason he decided not to return after WW2 and settle in the UK instead.
8) What has been your go-to recipe during lockdown?
Locally made cheese with crackers & mountains of my own chutneys! Or it has been a range of artisan chilli sauces.