T'riffic jam
Buying a premium jam or marmalade can add significant value to a breakfast or tea-time offering. As customers opt increasingly for products they perceive to be home-made, packaging also plays a vital role, and jams made to look home-made are proving very popular.
What people want depends on their situation. Often, customers want a decent-quality preserve at the weekend or when on holiday, when they have more time to linger over breakfast. In contrast, in staff canteens and busy hotels, most people are in and out of breakfast within 20 minutes and don't have much time to think about what they put on their toast. Directors, however, can be in a breakfast meeting for two hours and have plenty of time to contemplate their jam pot.
Our tasters were agreed that tea-time is much more likely to be an occasion for indulgence and premium products. At breakfast, jams tend to be seen as more of a necessity.
The most popular flavours are still the basic ones such as orange marmalade and strawberry jam, with tea-time the best time to try a wider range. The general consensus is that you should buy the best jam you can afford, and the right one for the job.
We put 10 jams and marmalades to the test at Young's Coach and Horses hotel in Kew, Surrey. Head chef Stephen Farrington presented the jams with bread and butter, before joining in the tasting himself.
The tasters
Stephen Farrington is head chef at Young's Coach and Horses hotel in Kew. The three-star, 31-bedroom hotel with pub-restaurant has 80 seats and feeds an average of 60 guests per day. Average spend is £12-£15 at both lunch and dinner. Farrington sources mainly mini-pots of strawberry and apricot jam, marmalade and honey for breakfast, the price of these being included in the room rate.
John Woodward is executive chef for Everson Hewett, an independent contract caterer covering London and the South-east. The company's clients are mainly corporate, patronising deli bars, staff restaurants, cafés, and directors' dining and hospitality suites. Seating capacities range from 60 to 500, with average spend in staff restaurants varying from £1.50 to £4, and reaching £35 in directors' dining facilities. Woodward prefers to source quality home-made-style jams that also offer value for money.
Adam Hanrahan is head hospitality chef for Aramark's BP International contract at Moorgate in London. Hanrahan's site concentrates on directors' dining for BP managing directors and partners, including offering English and Continental breakfasts. The site feeds from two to 22 people per day in two private dining rooms. Hanrahan sources good-quality jams in individual portions.
John Powell is general manager for Baxter & Platts at Virgin Atlantic in Crawley. The site feeds as many as 500 people per day in the 275-seat staff restaurant, 250-300 in a deli bar, and up to 200 in a 70-seat training centre restaurant. Average customer spend is 42p on breakfast and £1.54 on lunch. Powell sources good-value jams suitable for serving at all levels, which are not too sugary.
Suppliers
- Brake Grocery 0845 607 6777
- Coronet (3663) 0870 366 3000
- Nichols Foods 01942 295652
- Peppercorns Natural Food Provisions 020 8961 4410
- Thursday Cottage 01297 445555
Jams taste test - the results
The products were rated using our star system:
Outstanding * Recommended
St Dalfour Golden Peach - Peppercorns
£31.95 per case of 96 x 28g
Positive comments: Very appealing little jar that gives the product an edge on quality before it's opened; very sexy; smells of peach; a premium-quality product; good peachy texture, grainy but fleshy; taste lives up to appearance; good price.
Less favourable comments: Bit bland for one taster.
*
Thursday Cottage Fine Cut Marmalade
£12.70 for 5.5kg, £11.40 per case of 30 x 42g
Positive comments: Good packaging, fruit visible in jar, old-fashioned home-made look; balanced flavour, zingy, very zesty, tastes home-made.
Less favourable comments: Fussy labelling; plain white label would convey more home-made feel.
*
St Dalfour Thick Cut Orange - Peppercorns
£31.95 per case of 96 x 28g
Positive comments: Appealing packaging; excellent taste of oranges and zest, both well balanced; tastes better than it looks; worth the money.
Less favourable comments: Looks cloudy and grainy rather than transparent.
*
Coronet Strawberry Jam - 3663
£7.50 for 48 x 28g jars
Positive comments: Good, basic, all-round jam for mass market; decent standard jam that would satisfy most people; good value for money at 15p per portion.
Less favourable comments: Doesn't taste of strawberries; flavour killed by too much sugar.
Coronet Marmalade - 3663
£7.50 for 48 x 28g jars
Positive comments: Good, tangy flavour and good texture; good value for money.
Less favourable comments: Lacks colour, a bit too transparent; not enough orange coming through and rather bitty in the mouth.
Thursday Cottage Strawberry Jam £17.22 for 5.5kg, £11.40 per case of 30 x 42g jars
Positive comments: Good packaging with clean lines and hand-made look; plenty of fruit; good holding at room temperature.
Less favourable comments: Slightly bland.
Cearns & Brown Apricot Preserve - Brake Grocery £7.18 per case of 2 x 2.72kg
Positive comments: Good for uses such as glazing and puddings; looks appealing; a good mass-market product; good fruit content for mass-produced jam; very good value for money.
Less favourable comments: Too sweet; mass-produced flavour.
Cearns & Brown Strawberry Preserve
£7.18 per case of 2 x 2.72kg
Positive comments: Looks like a strawberry jam; good basic jam.
Less favourable comments: Too sweet, mass-produced flavour; gelatinous.
Duerrs Squeezers, Raspberry - Nichols Foods £8.95 per case of 150 x 15g
Positive comments: Innovative packaging for a jam; clever concept for kids' breakfast boxes or for kids to squeeze on to doughnuts, etc; at 5p a portion, pretty good value.
Less favourable comments: No ingredients labelled; artificial taste and colour; no taste of raspberries.
Duerrs Squeezers, Marmalade - Nichols Foods
£8.95 per case of 150 x 15g
Positive comments: Can see some zest; smells good; appealing packaging for children.
Less favourable comments: No ingredients labelled; artificial taste.
