I cannot believe we are now so close to Christmas! The Christmas ranges are now in the supermarkets and shops… for me, it’s the culmination of 9 month’s work to bring our puddings to the shelves so I am getting very excited.
So why LillyPuds? I launched LillyPuds in October 2015. I was made redundant and felt I just needed a break. With some family, I took a weekend holiday to Aldeburgh and visited the Food & Drink Festival. On seeing local producers selling their wares, it dawned on me that with the Christmas pudding recipe I had made for years, I could potentially start a business. So, I came home, completed the necessary formal bits and pieces, for example, registering with Environmental Health and started mixing! That year, I sold 600 puddings and 2,000 individual portions to local restaurants. The kitchen was like a sauna!
Fast forward to 2020, we will sell more than 20,000 puddings this year and we are now selling across the UK plus exporting to the USA and Canada. We have won numerous awards and recognition for the puds and love converting the Christmas pudding “dislikers” with our light and fruity recipes. Say goodbye to the dark, heavy, stodgy pud – a LillyPuds’ Christmas pudding contains over 50% fruit, we have reduced the flour and no ghastly mixed peel for us.
The Christmas process for us starts in January. There is so much to plan for – new products, packaging, production, marketing and not least, attracting new customers to our range. By the time October comes, we are relieved that Christmas is around the corner… albeit the consumer may be thinking Christmas has started a bit early.
Since LillyPuds was launched in October 2015, our presence throughout East Anglia and across the UK has increased significantly year on year. A key part of our business is building relationships with our customers and we were delighted when Suffolk Hampers approached us to potentially include LillyPuds in their hampers. As always, we sent tasters to Jo for her team to try. It was a “yes” and we even managed to convert the team to enjoying our brandy butter! So, some more LillyPudlians have joined our pudding club and we very much look forward to working with The Suffolk Hamper Company for this year and beyond.
Well, I need to get back to my Christmas workshop! Stay safe LillyPudlians, here’s hoping for a “normal” Christmas and a more settled 2021.