An award-winning young jam maker toasting international success in the Far East has launched a book on how to make it big in business.
When Fraser Doherty’s gran taught him how to make his first pot of jam, he never imagined the huge success that lay ahead.
He now makes regular appearances on South Korea’s biggest shopping channel and is recognised on the streets there after selling 500,000 pots of SuperJam. He has even had his life story turned into a soap-style drama on TV in Japan.
But the 27-year-old sometimes gets in a jam of his own while being interviewed on live TV by South Korea’s answer to Oprah Winfrey.
Fraser, of Edinburgh, said: “Korean is a difficult language to learn, not least because it has its own alphabet.
“There is a lovely TV host, Choi Yuri, who is very much South Korea’s Oprah.
“She regularly invites me on her shopping channel and I do my best to memorise a few phrases in Korean.
“I tell her before we go on air that these are the things I know how to say. And I ask her to ask me the questions she has in a specific order so I know I am using the right phrase at the right time.
“But whenever we go on air, she usually throws in other questions too and I end up giving all the wrong answers at the wrong time.
“I probably look like an idiot but I think a lot of viewers just appreciate that I’ve learned bits of the language so everyone is very kind.”
Fraser’s book, 48 Hour Start Up, gives advice on the quick way to start a business.
He started his first business at just 14 after his gran Susan Doherty, 78, showed him how to make his first pot of jam.
He started his own jam-making empire in the kitchen of his parents’ home – selling his produce to friends and neighbours before targeting farmers’ markets and local shops.
By 18, he had become the youngest supplier to a supermarket chain.
Now, 13 years on from making his first jam, he has sold more than a million jars of his SuperJam across the UK. He also sells his products everywhere from Denmark to Russia.
Last year Fraser was awarded an MBE for services to business and took his gran with him when he received his medal at Buckingham Palace from Prince Charles.
Fraser, who has also won a Young Scot award, said: “My gran feels very proud that she started off my jam making.
“She still goes in to supermarkets and makes sure all my jams have their labels facing forward on the shelves.”
Fraser is also a gifted motivational speaker and has given addresses to companies including RBS and Unilever.
He said: “I have had a lot of business adventures and learned a lot about how to get a business started. You can do it quickly – even over a weekend – and that’s what my latest book is about.”
