Meet 3-star Great Taste Award winner Matthew Slaughter of Matthew’s Preserves

Meet 3-star Great Taste Award winner Matthew Slaughter of Matthew’s Preserves

Meet 3-star Great Taste Award winner Matthew Slaughter of Matthew’s Preserves

Oct 2020, Written by Helen Tarver

It’s fair to say it’s been a busy few weeks for Matthew of Matthew’s Preserves. Hot on the heels of winning his second 3 Star Great Taste Award (for his Spicy Mango Chutney) The Times featured it in their Weekend supplement. And it looks like the world went slightly mad for something a bit different to liven up store cupboards, cheese boards and more around the UK.

All of this was followed most recently by the Spicy Pineapple Chutney adding to its 3 Star Great Taste Award with a Great British Food Award. Not only all of that going on but Matthew is busy working on a rebrand for his business. He managed to squeeze us in at the end of a long day to talk about how he got started, and the ups and downs of life as an artisan maker.

 

Matthew, would it be fair to call you a bit of a reluctant preserves maker when you first started?

I’d always relied on my mum to provide me with her great chutneys and jams, but in 2010 she announced she wasn’t making them any more. So it was make them, or not have them. Initially, I was going to make the chutney, and my sister was going to make the jams, but she’s got kids…so I ended up making the jams as well.

I guess you could say it was forced on me!

 

Was there a lightbulb moment for you, when you knew you wanted to pursue this as a business?

Not really a moment. In 2018 I had a massive mental breakdown. I couldn’t cope with my job as an Environmental Manager any more, so I quit my job. It was a horrendous time for me; my mental health was at an all-time low.

My wife suggested I could try selling my chutney at local markets, just to get by, but I kept thinking “no way am I doing that”. My mum and sisters got wind of it and thought it was a good idea, something for me to do.

Having been to uni and qualified as a Chartered Waste Manager, I wasn’t ready to give up that idea of myself. But going to interviews for those kinds of roles just didn’t feel right. I didn’t really want to do the job, so wasn’t sure why I was doing it.

 

A lucky chance meeting

My wife and I went off to a friend’s wedding in the autumn of that year. I’d never known that his parents used to own a chutney business, and they were there at the wedding too. Knowing I never travel without my own personal supplies of my favourites, his dad asked if he could try them.

His reaction?

Along the lines of “oh my god, these are amazing, you need to sell these. You need to enter the Great Taste Awards. These are going to go really well. If you don’t do this, you are losing the whole of your life. Just do it”.

My reaction?

Pretty much “ok, whatever”.

 

Intervention at the Job Centre

A couple of months later, I was still signing on, still not doing much with my life. Then one day at the Job Centre, I saw this photo of Levi Roots, founder of Reggae Reggae spicy sauces. And I just thought “if he can do it why don’t I just try?”

So although there was quite a bit of going to and fro, it was really about taking time to sort my head out. All the nudges and pushing was helpful, but I guess I had to get there for myself.

 

How did you develop your first products?

Aside from the family recipes, and even with those, I’ve been playing around with recipes since 2010, if not before.

I used to go to farmers’ markets and try other people’s products, and always ended up thinking “mine’s better”. Sounds big-headed, but it’s how I felt, and probably why the family were all pushing me to give it a go in 2018.

 

You’ve got some unexpected flavours in your range, including the award-winning Spicy Pineapple Chutney and the popular Spicy Banana Chutney. How do you come up with your combinations?

I love curry, but I don’t buy curries,  I make my own. Things like mango chutney were never as good as I’d have liked. I thought if I could take the flavours I put into my curries into my chutney, then that could be what I was looking for.

So I wasn’t setting out to develop something other than something I liked and wanted.

 

As well as these tropical flavours, you’re big on seasonal and local flavours. Do you have a network of local growers you work with?

Yes, but quite often it’s on a small, domestic scale. For example, with quinces, it’s quite often people contacting me to see if I’d like some that they can’t, or don’t know how to, use. When people give me fruit for free, then I give them back some of the finished product.

I get my crab apples from Starkey’s, famous as the home of the Bramley apple for over 200 years. They use crab apples to pollinate their apple trees, so they’re very happy for me to go and collect the fruit.

Other than the tropical fruits, my other fruits come from a farm in Hampshire, so all British produce going into the jars.

 

What’s your particular favourite out of all the products you make?

By far, Spicy Pineapple Chutney. I probably eat it every day. It came about after my breakdown when trying to kick start things, to change things and do something different. I’d done the mango version so decided to try it with pineapple see if it would work.

I’ll eat it with pretty much everything and anything!

 

What flavour do you get asked for most regularly?

If it’s a retailer, then they tend to always ask for the two award winners. If I’m at a market, then people are interested in the Three Fruit Marmalade.

That one came about as I consider myself an environmentalist, and having made an orange chutney, I didn’t want to throw away all the peels. I also didn’t want just a regular marmalade. I mixed it with lemon and grapefruit, and there we are Three Fruit Marmalade.

 

People don’t often think of chutney as an ingredient in cooking other dishes. What’s your favourite way of using one of yours beyond the typical accompaniment role?

There are so many! You can take the spiced mango chutney, mix it with mayonnaise and chicken and you’ve got ready to go Coronation Chicken. Or add a couple of spoonfuls to veg before you roast them, or on top of a gammon before that goes in the oven.

Really, I’d just encourage people to give it a go with whatever they’ve got, whatever they’re cooking.

 

Every sale you make raises money for MIND, and you talk quite openly about your mental health. Does that lead to conversations across the market stall about more than just jam?

I think because I’m upfront and honest about it, then that allows some people to be open and talk. Sometimes it’s just about feeling listened to, and understood, that you’re not the only one.

I give to MIND quite simply because I wanted to give something back. I’ve made use of their services, so it’s good to feel I can give them something now.

 

How has your business adapted during the current Covid19 crisis?

I refer to this year’s calendar as my plague calendar, given the number of black crosses on it from one event and then another cancelling all through the Spring.

Like many people, you think about online selling. Only I got back from a trip to the Lakes just before lockdown to find my website had been hacked. I spent three full days on Shopify, building another one from scratch, watching videos to find out how to do it.

It’s basic, it does the job, and I’m happy with it. I’m not a web designer, but no matter how many times I’ve been told I’m not going to make it, I’ve pushed myself to find a way around the obstacle.

 

How does your business get involved in supporting your local community?

I’ve been working with my local pub manager here in Calverton since the start of the first lockdown to get a small farmer’s market going. The first week it was me, the local butcher and the pub manager, in the pub car park. It provided a way for us to sell but, importantly, gave local people a way to shop without going to the supermarket.

We’re now up to about 15 to 17 stalls. It’s been about trying to help local store holders and the community. It’s important not to lose these smaller businesses, and perhaps this is a small help in getting people back on their feet.

 

Every sale you make raises money for MIND, and you talk quite openly about your mental health. Does that lead to conversations across the market stall about more than just jam?

I think because I’m upfront and honest about it, then that allows some people to be open and talk. Sometimes it’s just about feeling listened to, and understood, that you’re not the only one.

I give to MIND quite simply because I wanted to give something back. I’ve made use of their services, so it’s good to feel I can give them something now.

 

With two three-star Great Taste Awards, a Great British Food Award and winning the Golden Fork in your first year, that’s quite the winning streak. How does that make you feel?

It’s an amazing feeling; I didn’t think that would ever happen. My friend’s dad had his business for over 20 years and never won a 3 star.

It’s so hard to get a 3 star. This year there were over 12,700 products entered from 106 countries, and only the top 1.5% won 3 stars. My low esteem has always been at the back of my head, saying “are you really that good?” Well, I think now I can say yes I am, and I’ve got stars to prove it.

So, battling my mental health by winning awards! It didn’t start out as why I entered them, but it’s an incredible benefit for both the business and me.

 

You can find Matthew’s stall here if you want to try some of his award-winning chutneys. Discover for yourself just why the Great Taste judges rate them so highly.

Written by

Helen Tarver

Helen Tarver
Written by

Helen Tarver

Helen Tarver is a freelance writer, based on the beautiful Jurassic Coast. She is an enthusiastic supporter of local artisan food and drink producers, with many years of writing about food and drink behind her. When not at the laptop, Helen can be found walking the coastal paths between sampling the delicious produce of the area.