Our family and our friends were, until fairly recently, the only ones to enjoy
the pickles, sauces and chutneys which I now proudly make under the names of my parents, St. John & Dolly Smith. I had never considered entering this business, but one day, a chance encounter in a shop in Southall changed all this.
Our Potted History will tell you about this amazing coincidence which led to the birth of my company which appears to be bringing a great deal of pleasure to lovers of premium quality Pickles, Sauces and Chutneys.
Many customers seem to be rather surprised to discover that a team of just two people produce the entire output of this small business. I was proud to be awarded a Bronze for our Hot Tomato Sauce in The Great Taste Awards 2004, at our very first attempt.
Then, in 2005, a friend of mine, Nick Goodwin, asked if I made a hot chilli sauce. At that time I didn't have a recipe so I produced a sample batch of nine bottles of Scotch Bonnet Sauce. I loved both the flavour and the heat, so I submitted one to The Great Taste Awards and was rewarded with a Silver Award. As a thank you to Nick, I decided to name it after him and "Old Nick" Scotch Bonnet Sauce was born. (He has asked me to make it clear though, that he is not old.) It has rapidly become a favourite and "left it's mark" with many chilli heads throughout the country.
Five of the eight products in the current range are our family recipes which were known to be my paternal grandmother's recipes. It is possible that they precede her.
I am totally committed to producing only the best, by buying nothing but the best. With every batch I aim for the highest standards which were seemingly second nature to my parents. I use the methods they used and perfected over many years. To achieve this we make small batches and select only the freshest produce which is prepared and cooked by hand. By refusing to cut corners and in taking the time necessary to produce superior products, we guarantee our customers the premium quality that they have come to expect. We do not use any artificial flavouring, colouring or preservatives in our products and for this reason, as with all hand made products, there can be slight variations from batch to batch. This results in a "home made" quality that our discerning customers can enjoy and take for granted, time after time.
If you are a new customer, I am confident that you will not have eaten a better pickle.
Remember, you can always buy cheaper.....But you can never buy better.
After all, we don't claim our pickles are the best.....our customers do!