Today we’d like to introduce you to Bonnie Shershow.
Bonnie, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I grew up in Southern California in a house surrounded by acres of citrus trees and an incredible assortment of other fruit trees and berry bushes. Making jam was always a way to calm down, relax, and create something that I thought was quite beautiful – a perfect jar of beautifully fruit-tinted jam. I began making and selling my jam in a wonderful local specialty store called Formaggio Kitchen in 1999 gathering fruit from local farmers. Food & Wine, The New York Times and other publications began mentioning my products and I began getting requests from out-of-town stores. A new business – very different from other work I had done – began.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I continued to thoroughly enjoy making the jam and the surprise was that I also enjoyed the challenge of the business. I have especially enjoyed the relationships with stores. The tough part? Learning about all the various – to me – hidden costs and how to price my product. Cash flow is not my favorite task. That took a long time and I am still making adjustments as the market for my jams increase.
Please tell us about Bonnie’s Jams.
Small batch quality, slow cooking, and the addition of as little sugar as possible have made my jams a favorite. Most jams use pectin – I do not use pectin in any of the jams. Pectin jells the cooked fruit immediately leaving lots of the water in the product that diminishes the fruit flavor. Commercial jams use pectin for quick cooking and use extra sugar to boost the flavor of a mixture with lots of water all of that allows for a less expensive product and less costly store price but I think lots of people are looking for higher quality products that might cost more. I am pretty happy to produce a jam that sticks to the principle of quality and flavor first and a devotion to the tradition of jams made with simply as perfect as possible ingredients. My jams are great for more than toasts, Glaze chickens, fish or pork with the peach ginger, add pepper jelly to a sandwich, and add a touch of jam to a cocktail.
Most memorable moment so far – Oprah adding my jams to her Favorite Things!
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
I grew up in an orange grove in an agricultural area of Southern California. I loved wandering the orchard with my dog, munching whatever grew around me including great fruit, walnuts and macadamia nuts, sour grass, and wild fennel.
Pricing:
- 8.75 and 9 oz jars of jam retail from $7.99 to $9.99
- Nuts & Honey retail from $12.99 to $15.99
Contact Info:
- Website: www.bonniesjams.com
- Phone: 617.714,5380
- Email: info@bonniesjams.com
- Instagram: Bonniesjams
- Facebook: Bonniesjams
Image Credit:
Sally Paisley Vargas Photography
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