Jam Slangin'

I'm sure we are all familiar with the beloved Jackie's Jam's, and if you have not yet had your tastebuds graced with the delectable jamminess of BRB, or Blood Orange Marmalade, treat yourself the next time you are at the Farmer's Market!
Once again, our very own Jeremy Ison has gotten his network-on, and has been given the incredible opportunity to work for Jackie Anderson herself. Jerry has been working with Robert, a partner of Jackie, and is being mentored in the business aspects of the operation. Eventually, he will be at the Farmer's Market, slangin' jam and learning the business from the inside-out.
The very first thing Robert taught Jerry was the importance of cleanliness, which is considered the most crucial part of the operation. "It's really great working in the kitchen with older, highly experienced people who are really agressive when it comes to selling their jam" Jerry said to me. "It is run like a family business where everybody cares about each other, and the working conditions are great because they all care about the quality of the product as well as one another." I personally believe that it is this characteristic of a business that can really make it take-off; if morale is high, and the employees feel as if they have more personal investment and pride in what they are doing, the quality of the product is more likely to be consistently excellent.
Aside from the general attitude of the staff, the quality of Jackie's Jam's is unrivaled because of the labor-intensive process by which the jam's are produced. All of the jam's are made by hand start to finish in order to preserve the old-school way of doing things; and any culinarian knows that there is absolutely no way of replacing something like that. Jerry commented that there "is some sort of inexplicable phenomenon that happens when you actually put care into what you do...if there were any other way, it would just taste different."
I am definitely a fan of Jackie's Jam's, and believe that because every single batch of jam is made with the utmost care and diligence, this is one business that can truly claim 'made with love'. So let's all head down to the Farmer's Market and say hello to Jerry while he is slangin' the delicious and unique Jackie's Jam's!