Gavin and Jackie, the couple behind the Dorset company Miss Marshmellow, decided that the delicious marshmallows that they hand-made were so soft and smooth that they needed their own name, to distinguish them from the commercial 'pink and white ones'. And so Marshmellows were born - marshmallows but mellower!
The inspiration for the business started whilst they were on their honeymoon in Provence in 2011. They loved the local Montelimar Nougat and wanted to be able to produce something similar using Dorset honey and other local ingredients.
After trying out various recipes, and experimenting with sugar technology, Gavin made some flavoured marshmallows that were pronounced 'fantastic' by willing tasters from amongst their family and friends.
Gavin then spent the winter extending the range of flavours, which involved tweaking both the proportions of the ingredients and the details of the process, and finally, in the spring of 2012, 'Miss Marshmellow' was ready to go."We are passionate about using only real flavour ingredients in our Marshmellows," Jackie explained, "and there are no artificial colours or preservatives either. Gavin zests and juices our lemons, we use a high cacao chocolate and melt it into our chocolate range and if we can use locally produced fruit, then we do... And the flavours really do taste wonderful."
"The range we make changes seasonally and we love trying out new flavour ideas and combinations, often those suggested by customers."
'Miss Marshmellow's Marshmellows can be found in a few specialist shops, mostly in Dorset, although the couple find that having a stand at food festivals and markets is the most enjoyable way of selling their product. "We like to interact with our customers," Gavin explained. "We always offer lots of samples, because people won't know how good they are, and how different to 'ordinary' marshmallows, unless they taste them, and customer feedback is really important to us in helping us to develop our product."
At the start of this year, Jackie and Gavin were delighted to be chosen by Theo Paphitis, from Dragon's Den, for one of his Small Business Sunday Awards. "It's really helped our business. We've had many more orders online, through our website, and it gave us a boost, personally, to know that he had recognised our business in that way."
"This year," Gavin added, "we are planning to be at many more food festivals and events locally, and we're also moving into the wedding market; our Marshmellows make great wedding favours. A bit further in the future, but within this coming year, we're planning to take our Marshmellows to one of the specialist food fairs in London."
Jackie and Gavin haven’t forgotten their original idea of making nougat, and are still working on it. "Next year we'd like to be able to offer Dorset Nougat as well as Marshmellows...and, of course, we'll continue to work on increasing our range of Marshmellows whilst ensuring that the flavours remain real."
Read some of our other Dorset business start-up stories.
