Why we love... FINE NORFOLK PROVENDER
1. Tell us a little bit about yourself?
Fine Norfolk Provender (FNP) is made up of myself (Holly) and my mum (Val). We’ve lived in Norfolk – Broadland to be exact! - for over 30 years.
Val has a background in the catering and hospitality industry and is the most fantastic cook and creative. She has a knack for creating – in the past, that has included baking, birthday cakes, wedding cakes, wedding and church flowers, Christmas decorations and homemade cards. We have lots of options if we ever wanted to expand product lines for Fine Norfolk Provender..!
I have spent over ten years in the Charity sector which has included working for arts organisations, local charities and currently a national dementia charity. I’ve learnt so much from the charity and fundraising sector which I’ve been able to put into FNP, and vice-versa.
Outside of FNP, we love spending time as a family walking each of our Cocker Spaniels across the Norfolk countryside. As you can imagine, we’re also a foodie family and love trying out restaurants and pubs across the county!
2. What made you set up Fine Norfolk Provender?
We started Fine Norfolk Provender 2017, grown from Val’s love of making jams and chutneys for family and friends. She would receive so many compliments with people telling her that she should sell it. We were laughing at it round the dinner table one evening, before we suddenly thought – well, let’s try it then!
We knew that we wanted FNP to be aligned with quality, authenticity and a real sense of family and home – which for us is Norfolk. Each batch is homemade using traditional methods which we believe is so important to be able to shout about the vibrancy of the Norfolk produce we use.
In the three years since we started FNP we’ve had some fantastic highlights, such as exhibiting at the Royal Norfolk Show, and winning two stars at the Great Taste Awards in 2019 for our Rhubarb, Ginger & Honey Preserve. I felt enormously proud of ourselves to win that accolade.
It’s certainly been a learning curve working so closely with one another as mother and daughter! We have to make sure we respect each other’s knowledge of the different areas of the business we work on – as well as making sure we’re not always talking shop! Ultimately however, it’s an absolute honour to work alongside one another and to be able to share our pride in FNP’s successes.
3. Who is part of your team and why?
Our family is our team! Mum (Val) makes our Chutneys and Jams from her kitchen which includes liaising with local farmers and suppliers about the produce they have available and developing new flavours. We constantly have new flavour samples in our fridges ready to try with different meals!
I (Holly) lead on the Business Development – looking after our social media, booking the Christmas and Spring/Summer fairs to exhibit at, and liaising with stockists. I’ve also taken on setting up our online shop, which has kept me busy during lockdown!
Tony, my Dad, is also keenly involved – mainly as our resident Taste Tester. You can be assured that he quality controls each batch on your behalf, and (begrudgingly) declares it worthy of being sold!
We’re extremely lucky that my partner Mat owns Finch Design Company, and therefore we have a Graphic Designer available 24/7! Mat has been instrumental in creating our branding which is a huge part of FNP. We want each jar to feel like a little piece of luxury and happiness, and the colours of our jams and chutneys to shine through. Mat has also designed our new website and online shop, due to launch in July.
4. Where do your source your ingredients?
We source our ingredients locally where possible, with most of our fruit being sourced from The Tacons in Rollesby and Mike, Debs, and Sons on Norwich Market. We also take advantage of friends and families’ allotment and veg plots, especially for Rhubarb!
Our passion stems from using Norfolk produce to highlight the incredible flavours available locally to create our vibrant jams, chutneys and preserves.
5. How has the current pandemic affected you and what are your plans for the future? Have you learnt anything along the way which actually has been positive!
We feel extremely fortunate that the pandemic hasn’t affected us too badly, although sadly it has meant that the Spring/Summer fairs we normally attend have all been cancelled. This has spurred us on to get our website and online shop set up and running – it has been lovely to receive messages from customers who are missing seeing us at events and stocking up!
Mum and I don’t live together, so it’s been interesting running FNP without being able to see each other. We’ve also found ingredients harder to get hold of, such as the sugar we use to preserve our chutneys and jams. Time has been of the essence in the last month or so to have enough sugar to make use of the Norfolk season for Rhubarb, Strawberries and Gooseberries!
Overall, it’s been wonderful to see the focus shift to supporting local producers and farm shops. Norfolk has such a wonderful array of produce – you can see it every time you drive past or walk through our fields! As we ease out of lockdown and establish our new ‘normal’, we hope people continue to see the power and value in shopping local and supporting their local producers and farmers.
6. What's the best thing about the area you live in?
Holly – For me, it’s the huge Norfolk skies and the feeling of space. I’ve lived in Norfolk for the majority of my life apart from moving to Southampton for University, and a couple of years in London. The first time I lived away from Norfolk, it took me a while to realise why I felt so claustrophobic, even when I was outside. It gradually dawned on me that I was so used to seeing Norfolk’s far-reaching landscapes!
If I had to sum up Norfolk in one word, it would be simply be ‘home’. My parents moved to Norfolk from Essex in 1990, but we recently found out through my Mum’s family tree that our ancestors dating back to the 18th century were from Wells, Walsingham and Briningham – now I have an extra layer of understanding why I feel so strongly that Norfolk is truly home!
Shop for Norfolk Provender on our Condiments section HERE