Today we’d like to introduce you to Andrea Hammond.
Hi Andrea, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I have been canning and doing food preservation for 30+ years. When we first moved to Brentwood, I would occasionally give neighbors jams as gifts when I made it. After our neighbor, Michaella Zetts, started making her sourdough breads, she asked me if I would be interested in making jams to sell along side her breads. It took her some time for her to convince me, but I have been making and selling jams since then!
During that time people have come to know and love my gourmet jams. It’s not uncommon for people to tell me how much their families/friends loved the jam flavors and how my jam is the only ones their kids will eat now. My jams are unique and flavorful, due in part because I focus on using quality, whole ingredients and produce.
My business catchphrase is “spread the love”. That is literally what people do when they buy my jam. They are spreading their love by sharing my jams with loved ones and spreading the love when they use it in their everyday life and cooking. I never imagined what a bountiful community would be created by spreading love through seasonal jars of delicious, homemade jams!
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
One struggle along the way has been learning where to source produce. And when one source dries up, knowing where to continue to find high quality produce.
There also seems to be a distinct rhythm to learning the busy and slow times of year and learning what people want, which flavors sell better than others – that sort of thing. As I’ve worked to figure those things out, it’s been easier to transition between those times.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I never imagined I would have my own business. That isn’t something I ever aspired to doing . . . and I also love the autonomy it gives in as a mom.
My specialty is making fresh, seasonal, homemade jams. The biggest thing that sets me apart from what you get at the grocery store are the quality and freshness of my products. Unlike store-bought jams that are made in huge factories, mine are crafted in small batches using real, fresh produce. Nothing is “fruit-flavored”. There are no fillers or artificial flavors. I focus on seasonal flavors so customers are getting what is fresh and custom – something they can’t get anywhere else and quality they can taste, in every bite. It’s cheesy to say, but I do try to make my products with love. That, hopefully, is reflected in what people taste and why people come back to my products.
In addition to jams, I offer a few dips/spreads. Homemade applesauce and giardiniera (pickled veggies) are two newer products and both have been wildly popular.
Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
The biggest thing people can do to support me is to ‘spread the love’! by sharing my products and what they love about them, trying my products, and posting online on my social media pages (FB: Dawson Delights, IG: @dawsondelights). I do special orders and can customize for events. My jams have been used by cooks and bakers, charcuterie board makers in their small businesses (Frosted Fox Sweets, Empire State Bagels). They are fabulous for tea parties (kid and adult), as party favors, teacher gifts, co-worker/employee thank-you’s and so much more.
I sell my jams from my Brentwood home where they are always available for pick-up, occasional pop-ups/fairs and they are currently stocked and sold in SOS Counter in Franklin and Fiber, Feather and Fur Farm in Liepers Fork.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dawson.delights/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/332023255433606
