About Radnor Preserves
Radnor Preserves has been judged as one of the best artisan marmalade makers in the world, winning most notably the Double Gold Prize at the World Marmalade Awards 2015.
The company, founded by Joanna Morgan in 2010, also won a record-breaking three Gold Medals from the World Marmalade Festival 2013, has received several Great Taste Awards from the Guild of Fine Food, and was a prize-winner at the World Chutney Festival in 2011.
In May 2018, Olive Magazine honoured Radnor Preserves as one of the top 10 finest artisan food producers in Britain and in October 2018, Radnor Preserves won the Great British Food Awards, Sweet Preserve Category. In 2019, Radnor Preserves was chosen by the Gibson Index as one of the top dozen small businesses in the UK, was judged the Best Food & Drink Manufacturer at the Made in Wales Awards 2020 and the overall Winner: Marmalade & Preserve Category, Great British Food Awards 2020.
In 2021, we were awarded Best Artisan Food Producer, Wales at the Global Vegan Awards; called “The real wizard of the marmalade world” by Nigel Barden to Simon Mayo, on Scala Radio; and featured as a leading example of innovation and iconic brand at Taste Wales. We have also been awarded Best Artisan Food Specialist at the Innovation & Excellence Awards 2022.
Only the finest natural ingredients of the highest quality are used to provide sublime flavours for the most discerning palate. Locally sourced as far as possible, the ingredients are carefully hand-prepared and cooked in small batches.
No artificial preservatives or additives are used; all products are gluten free and are suitable for vegetarians and vegans.
We have SALSA Accreditation, and are on our way to becoming a B Corp.
A word from Joanna herself...
I used to live in a Hansel and Gretel cottage on the western tip of the ancient Forest of Arden where oak trees as old as Shakespeare grow. It had no road, nor any electricity, and really was in the middle of nowhere. Romantically Elysian in the summer, but incredibly hard work in the winter. Lighting candles at half past two on a gloomy afternoon was a remarkable lesson, for someone of my generation, to relearn how to live with and truly appreciate natural light. An erratic and temperamental oil-fuelled Rayburn provided heating, hot water and limited cooking facilities.
Gardening was my passion, stemmed from my father and grandparents (and continued by my brother with his landscape garden business Land Designs), and very soon I had a harvest of wonderful runner beans, peas, courgettes and beetroot, and trees laden with damsons and greengages. But, with no electricity, I had no freezer, let alone a fridge, and suddenly I was in danger of my entire crop – and all my hard work – completely perishing. I suddenly had to teach myself very quickly how to preserve this bounty and prevent it from going to waste.
Armed with a recipe book given to me by my grandfather (the covers of which are still laced with molten candle-wax), a hotline to my mother and sister (both brilliant cooks), two big saucepans (one to make the preserves in and one to sterilise my jars) and a reluctant Rayburn that didn’t always get me to a rolling boil, I worked late into each night, chopping, stirring and transforming fruit and vegetables into mouthwatering concoctions. And it was satisfying entertainment – no electricity also meant no television, and candlelight is too soft to read by for any length of time without hurting your eyes.
Preserve making quickly became a complete addiction, gratifying solace and true adventure. By Christmas time, I had made enough jams, chutneys and jellies to create Christmas hampers for all my family and friends, and in the following year, much to my surprise, the first marmalade I made - Quince Marmalade - won first prize in an agricultural competition.
I have since moved to the Welsh Marches where great boulders that predate Stonehenge lie, the borders long fought over by Anglo-Saxon kings; you can still sense watchmen keeping vigil on the castle mound as twilight falls. Standing guard is a quadrant of churches: defence against the last dragon in Wales whose home is here in the Radnor Forest. This is a place steeped in and unscathed by time. Come morning, as I pick elderflowers or blackberries from the hedgerows, the red kite as my sentinel, I love watching the light changing on the hills as the clouds pass over the sun. It is a truly inspiring landscape, one that nurtures the soul, makes your heart sing and lets you think that anything is possible.
Preserve making is alchemy, a time-honoured tradition of capturing time and catching seasons. The transformation of such raw ingredients into incredibly precious jewels gives you a real sense of wonder. I have electricity – and therefore a freezer - now, but the urge to preserve didn’t dissipate, and the demand from friends and their friends increased to such an extent that I started to sell at Farmers’ Markets.
Radnor Preserves was born and within its first six months of trading was shortlisted to the final three of the Powys Business Awards 2010 for excellence in Food Manufacture. Three years later, early 2013 brought further acclaim at the World Marmalade Awards and the honour of being selected by Fortnum & Mason to be one of only five non-Fortnum marmalades to be sold at their beautiful emporium in Piccadilly.
Following a move to a food-grade kitchen unit in the Heart of Wales in 2015, the company has gone from strength to strength. Radnor Preserves won Double Gold at the World Marmalade Awards for its savoury Smoky Campfire Marmalade, the highest prize in the world of marmalade, with a return listing at Fortnum & Mason. Selfridges selected Radnor Preserves for its Meet the Maker campaign introducing undiscovered artisan food producers across the British Isles to its discerning foodie customers.
Bentley Motors chose our products to help launch their new Bentley at the Frankfurt Motor Show, Heathrow Airport has featured us in their social media advertising campaigns and Radnor Preserves has been served on menus at the Tate Gallery and BAFTA in London to British Embassies across the globe. We have been extremely proud to be stocked by wonderful Food Halls, Delicatessens and Visitor Centres nationwide, delighted to supply Ocado in the UK, and to export to Macau, Japan, the UAE and Qatar.
