A short update to the previous blog post introducing my idea to find sponsors for our rewilding project: it didn’t work. Or to give it a more positive spin: it hasn’t worked yet. While completely sound on paper, on reflection this approach was a little… premature.
The main problem I had anticipated was, unsurprisingly, the main problem I faced in practise – why should anyone give me their money? I contacted exactly 100 businesses, spoke with various owners and marketing representatives and was able to convince exactly none of them. I don’t think it’s a bad idea, I just need to have some proof of my intentions.
Which is why I’m going to make jam.
Funding our rewilding project with hedgerow jam
The new plan (technically an old plan as I’d originally explored this back in 2021) is to make and sell jam, setting aside 50p per jar sold towards the rewilding project. That’s 200,000 jars that’d need to be sold in order to hit the £100,000 target. Even though jam as well as preserves and chutneys are traditionally a low margin, high volume product – I don’t think that’s unrealistic.
Longer term I’m going to grow all the fruit required using native species and also produce everything in-house. I’m currently taking some online courses in computer coding to help in that regard. Until then, I’ve partnered with a supplier and manufacturer so we can at least get the ball rolling.
Final thoughts
After digging out my old notes on the recipes I cooked up under the watchful eyes of my parents, there are currently some samples slated for a trial production run in mid-December. All being well there’ll be a fresh batch of hedgerow jam coming my way at the start of 2023 which I can then unleash on the British public!
This’ll most likely be a slower route to achieving my long-term rewilding goals. No way around that. At the same time, it’s also a fantastic way of introducing this project to a lot more people.
I also can’t shake the feeling that this new direction will some surprising opportunities.
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Thanks for reading.
Cheers, Andrew
2 thoughts on “Pivoting into hedgerow jam”
Why not make the jam yourself in your kitchen? Surely would be cheaper??
I had thought about it, though for one thing there’s a lot of health and safety requirements to consider. Then there’s the time it’d take to make the jam and my inexperience in doing it… it’s something I’d like to bring in-house eventually however for right now this is the best option.