Fraser Doherty, now 20, set up SuperJam at the age of 14, using his Grandmother’s secret jam recipes. After cooking jam at home for several years; selling his produce at farmers’ markets and to delicatessens, he developed a method of producing jam entirely from fruit and fruit juice, making it healthier and better tasting than regular jams.
After setting up production, creating a brand and perfecting his recipes, Fraser became the youngest ever supplier to a major supermarket chain when Waitrose launched the range in March 2007. SuperJam now supplies over 1,000 supermarkets in the UK (incl. Tesco, Asda Wal-Mart, Morrisons, Waitrose) and is working on expanding overseas.
SuperJam is exhibited in the National Museum of Scotland as an ‘Iconic Scottish Brand’, alongside Irn Bru, Tunnock’s and Baxters and Fraser was recently named ‘Global Student Entrepreneur of The Year’, the first ever winner from outside North America, one of over twenty awards that the company has received. Gordon Brown, the UK Prime Minister, commended Fraser over dinner at Downing Street, after hearing about his amazing story.
Fraser, you’ve won so many awards. Including the 2007 Global Student Entrepreneur of the Year, which is awesome. What personality traits would you attribute most to your success?
Taking SuperJam from my Gran’s kitchen to the shelves of all of the major UK supermarkets has not been an easy journey; there have been a lot of setbacks and, in the early days, the supermarket buyers rejected the products entirely. I kept improving the branding, recipes and costs until eventually they agreed to give it a shot. {AF template=round_quotes} If I hadn’t been willing to keep trying, it wouldn’t have worked out in the end. {/AF}
And as entrepreneurs, we must be aware of our weaknesses (we are human after all!). Are you aware of yours?
In the early days, I was working too hard and didn’t make much time for the important things in life. I now rarely work at the weekends and spend a lot of time doing things outside of running the company. This broadens my view of the world, keeps my mind fresh and makes life more fun.
Are you still running the business day to day? Describe a typical day, if you can!
I am very much hands on and spend most of my time dealing with supermarket buyers, meeting distributors and planning promotional activity. The SuperJam Tea Parties project takes up about a third of my time and I also give at least half a dozen talks each month; sharing the story of SuperJam at schools, colleges, universities and at conferences.
How important is it to have other encouraging, positive people around you when building a business?
{AF template=round_quotes} For me, the best support came from having a mentor. {/AF}
Mine was a guy who had built a successful food company and was willing to spend time sharing the lessons he had learned with me. We met up every couple of months and he taught me all about how supermarkets worked. Without the support of my mentors, family and friends, I wouldn’t have got SuperJam off the ground.
Best thing about being an entrepreneur?
The sense of being in control of my own life. I have a true feeling that I am doing the right thing with my life.
Best thing that has happened to you as a result of the business success?
I have made a lot of amazing friends along the way and have been lucky enough to travel around the world.
And finally, do you have any words of wisdom for our debt ridden students out there?
The first step is to be willing to give your ideas a shot, whatever they might be. Start out on a small scale in your local community and see what happens.
Thanks Fraser, awesome stuff! You can follow Fraser on twitter.com/fraserdoherty
You can also view a video interview with Fraser, here: