Last Month’s featured Scot
Our featured Scot for May is Fraser Doherty
Fraser Doherty – Successful Teenaged Entrepreneur, Scotland
Fraser Doherty, now 20, set up SuperJam at the age of 14, using his Grandmother’s secret jam recipes. After cooking jam at home for several years; selling his produce at farmers’ markets and to delicatessens, he developed a method of producing jam entirely from fruit and fruit juice, making it healthier and better tasting than regular jams.
After setting up production, creating a brand and perfecting his recipes, Fraser became the youngest ever supplier to a major supermarket chain when Waitrose launched the range in March 2007. SuperJam now supplies over 1,000 supermarkets in the UK (incl. Tesco, Asda Wal-Mart, Morrisons, Waitrose) and is working on expanding overseas.
SuperJam sells over 500,000 jars a year, is exhibited in the National Museum of Scotland as an ‘Iconic Scottish Brand’, alongside Irn Bru, Tunnock’s and Baxters and Fraser was recently named ‘Global Student Entrepreneur of The Year’, the first ever winner from outside North America. Gordon Brown, the UK Prime Minister, commended Fraser over dinner at Downing Street, after hearing about his amazing story.
The company also invests in running ‘SuperJam Tea Parties’ for elderly people who live alone, in care homes or in sheltered housing. SuperJam hosted over 100 events across the UK, with live music, dancing and, of course, scones and SuperJam. Up to 500 guests attend each of these events and they are growing in popularity every month.