Fruit Is Bought For The Pan
Shropshire fruit is used where it suits the flavour and the set. Seville oranges, quinces and some citrus come in when the season says they are ready, not when a spreadsheet wants them.
About
From Weekend Market Stock To A SALSA-Audited Boiling Room.
Crave Tree Preserves was started in 2014 by Martha Llewellyn after three summers of turning surplus Shropshire fruit into weekend market jars. The business now works from a small boiling room on the north side of Shrewsbury and supplies independent food shops rather than supermarkets.
Trade conversations still begin with hello@cravetree.com.
History
The Business Since 2014
The first Crave Tree labels were printed for weekend markets after neighbours, allotment friends and a few farm gate growers brought fruit that was too good for compost and too ripe for a week of waiting. Those early jars paid for better pans, then a bigger stock cupboard, then the first proper wholesale cases.
By the time delicatessens started asking for repeat orders, Martha moved the work out of the home kitchen and into a small SALSA-audited boiling room on the north side of Shrewsbury. The business stayed small on purpose. Cases go to farm shops, cheese counters, independent grocers, hamper makers and cafés that want a local preserve they can explain without reading from a brochure.
Boiling Room Practice
How The Preserves Are Made
Batch Size Stays Human
The copper pans are kept small enough for Martha to read the boil. The set is judged by drag, steam, acidity and the way fruit moves through the spoon.
Jars Are Sterilised And Coded
Jars are sterilised before filling, sealed hot and labelled with batch codes for traceability. Shelf life is set by the preserve style and confirmed before wholesale cases leave.
Labels Are Checked In North Light
The labels are checked on the long oak bench by the back door because the north light shows up bubbles under the paper. It is slow, but crooked labels make good jars look careless.
Martha Llewellyn
On Set, Acidity And Not Rushing A Pan
I do not know how to make a preserve honestly without giving the fruit the deciding vote. Two crates can come from the same grower and still ask for different treatment. A wet week makes the berries softer and quieter. A hot week can push the sugar up and leave the acid sulking behind it. That is why I will not hurry a pan for the sake of a courier label or a buyer who has left the hamper plan until November. The set comes when the spoon starts to pull back against the boil and the bubbles move from frantic to heavy. The acidity has to sit high enough that the jar wakes food up, especially chutney made for cheese counters. If the pan needs another minute, it gets another minute. If it needs taking off before the timer has earned its keep, the timer loses.
Onward
Read The Range Or Send A Trade Email.
Wholesale buyers can ask for current availability, case pricing and first order lead time at hello@cravetree.com.