An interview with Mary Berry's daughter - Annabel Bosher
What did you do before Mary Berry & Daughter Dressings and Sauces started?
A mixture of things! I’ve always had a passion for food and gained an advanced Cordon Bleu Certificate. I also studied at The London College of Fashion and afterwards did a short placement at Vogue.
Then I lived in Bali for a while and set up my own fashion label Venus Rising. It made me think that I’d like to run my own business back in England. So when I was 19, I set up Cosmic Candles in London, with a grant from The Princes Trust. I had a VW Camper and used to go around the country selling the candles at shows and festivals.
So from Cosmic Candles to Dressings and Sauces, how did you initially get involved in the family business?
In 1991, at the same time as I was running Cosmic Candles, I asked Mum if I could bottle up her Salad Dressing and brand the products with her name.
She was very busy, because only a few months before then she had launched her Aga Workshops. But she thought it was a great idea and told me to go ahead. So I saved £100, went down to London’s East End, bought some old fashioned bottles with a cork in, and made up the first batch of Salad Dressing. I drew flowers on the labels and called it Mary Berry's Original family recipe Salad Dressing. Then I tied the label around the neck of the bottle with string and sticky tape! I started selling the Dressing at shows, festivals & Mum's Aga Workshops. Then in 1994, the range was launched and branded "Mary Berry & Daughter".
What's your role in the business? Tell us about some of things you might get up to in your working week..
A week for me could involve a whole range of things. It might involve me overseeing a photo shoot, liaising with our press office, looking after our overseas customers, ordering stock, answering customers' letters, local deliveries, dealing with invoices, follow up from some of the food shows, as well as new product development.
What is it like working with your family?
Now there's a question! Mum and I get along very well. We work together on new ideas, marketing & product development. We share an office and she is pretty good at leaving me to get on with my business! She is also very involved with writing books, broadcasting and running her Aga Workshops.
Mary Berry & Daughter Dressings and Sauces has always been my baby but I could never have done it without Mum & Dad. Dad is the Company secretary (a very brave man!) and is the backbone of the Company. He keeps us all in order! And Tom, my brother, also has a share in the Company. He is a tree surgeon and helps me unload the stock occasionally! Tom works at home too and we all sit down to lunch together every day. Enjoying our food is important to all of us.
Do you have any tips for other family businesses?
Try and have a mentor who can give some perspective. Mine is Sir Robin Buchanan and he is our family mentor. He is brilliant at looking at all the sides of the business & giving impartial advice.
Try to have regular meetings about any issues you need to clear. Communication is the key!
Take time out with the family; holidays are very important as from time to time it is really good to clear your head of the business. We love to go fishing together, pick mussels, cockles, shrimping & beachwalking in Devon.
My hubbie Dan is in a 5th generation family business, so we often compare our days over supper and a bottle of wine. He is a great therapist!
When you're not thinking, breathing and dreaming dressings and sauces, what do you like to do?
I love travelling, snowboarding, cocktails with girlfriends, fishing, sailing, scuba diving, swimming, camping in my tepee, dancing, entertaining friends, shopping, boogie boarding, Africa, music, theatre & seeing my best mate Sophie sing in Zero 7.
I also love making up funky new recipes for my hubbie and friends. One day I would like to publish them, under my name!
Finally, you're stranded on a desert island and you can only take one of your nine dressings and sauces. What would you choose and why?!
Definitely the Salad Dressing! Since I was a toddler, I have been addicted to it! I remember when I was 5, we were in our VW camper in France and I wouldn't eat any food because Mum forgot her Salad Dressing! She bought the ingredients and we shook it in an old bottle and I drank it!
Oh and I'd love to get to that island!
For more information on Annabel click here
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