Speciality Food Magazine June 2024

27 specialityfoodmagazine.com Eva Thorne THE GARDEN OF EVA Eva Thorne is a native New Yorker, born of an American Southerner mother who loved to cook and preserve. Her mum used the Grand Diplome Cooking Course to teach Eva the basics. Making jams, conserves, and pickles almost year-round was a regular feature of life in the Thorne household. Passion for food and travel combined to create The Garden of Eva, which brings the pickles, relishes and jams of the American South to the UK and beyond. The company’s upcycled Pickled Watermelon Rind is the recipient of two Great Taste stars. It’s brilliant with cheese and grilled meats, while the brine goes well in cocktails. Honest Burgers used The Garden of Eva’s American Southern relish – Chow Chow -- on a New Orleans-style fried chicken sandwich, which was a monthly special. And Whole Foods Market UK named The Garden of Eva’s Chili-Watermelon Jam as a 2024 Food and Drink Trend for complex heat. Eva is currently exploring a farm-to-jar model and leveraging AI to tackle bigger challenges in the food system. gardenofeva.co.uk Seji Hong BOMBOM Seji’s journey begins with her Wimbledon supper club. Launched in 2019, it led to collaborations and pop-ups with East London restaurants. Soon after, in 2022, she brought independent Korean sauce company BOMBOM to market. BOMBOM’s sauce recipes are inspired by the dishes most loved by Seji’s guests. She has taken those flavours, and developed them into easy-to-use jars that appeal to everyone, frommeat lovers to vegans, allowing them to enjoy authentic Korean food at home. Since launching, BOMBOM has gained listings at Whole Foods Market, Ocado, Selfridges and Sous Chef, and scooped up two Great Taste Awards. Her best-loved (and first) product is BOMBOM’s Gochujang - a spicy, sweet, umami, fermented sauce with an elevated, premium flavour and real versatility, lending itself as a dip, marinade or even a salad dressing. bombom-market.com Laura Barton GRANOLA BUTTER UK Granola Butter has been a huge success in the US - which sparked Laura’s initial product idea. A lot of trends from the US find their way over to the UK, so she saw this as a huge opportunity, saying she loved the fact granola butter could be made with predominantly British ingredients to minimise food miles and celebrate British farming. Laura spent 18 months developing the recipe - tweaking different ingredients to strike the perfect balance of health and indulgence. Granola Butter has the texture of peanut butter, but is made from granola instead of nuts. It’s a sweet spread, but contains 70% less sugar than comparable products in the market. The Granola Butter Co’s granola is toasted to perfection, then blended to deliver tasting notes of caramelised biscuits. It’s high fibre and naturally free from nuts, gluten and dairy. Laura says her customers love the product because it has an accessible flavour that is versatile and adds excitement to meals and snacks throughout the day. She’s continued to innovate with flavours such as Hot Cross Bun, Cookie Dough and Strawberries & Cream - bringing joy to what she felt was a stagnant category. granolabutter.co.uk Alexa Fernandez CHILI MAVEN Alexa founded Chili Maven in December 2021 with a desire to bring a real taste of Mexico to the UK. After much experimentation with flavour combinations, she launched the UK’s first salsa macha. While salsa macha is a staple in Mexico, it’s a brand new concept to most Brits, best described as a chilli condiment, but so much more than that in its layers of flavour. What sets Alexa’s products apart is her pursuit of the proper taste of Mexico. Chili Maven only uses Mexican chillies in its products. They’re grown in Mexico, picked in Mexico, prepared in Mexico, and blended with artisan Mexican techniques. Why is that so important? At the heart of Chili Maven is Alexa’s passion to infuse cultures. Having grown up in the border town of El Paso, Texas, she’s used to the rich diversity of interacting cultures. What better way to share culture than through delicious food? Alexa pours her joy of food and (most of all) flavour into all of Chili Maven products. chilimaven.com James Santillo and Tara Smyth SUNDAY CHARCUTERIE Founded in 2021, Sunday Charcuterie was born from a desire to create artisanal charcuterie with a focus on provenance and authenticity of flavour. Excellent salami requires an excellent pig, so James and Tara’s dedication begins with sourcing the highest welfare, free-range pork from East Anglian farms and smallholders. Embracing a sustainable nose-to-tail philosophy, James meticulously seam-butchers each pig, creating exceptional small-batch salami and air-dried hams. The range has now also expanded to include delectable fresh terrines and pâtés. The couple’s commitment to craftsmanship has garnered widespread acclaim, including five prestigious Great Taste Awards to date. With over 120 stockists across England, including renowned retailers like Fortnum & Mason and Daylesford Organic, Sunday Charcuterie is redefining standards for British charcuterie. sundaycharcuterie.co.uk PRODUCED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH