Fraser Doherty

Inspiring young entrepreneur, jam-maker extraordinaire

Fraser Doherty has the distinction of being invited to dinner at Downing Street, where Gordon Brown, the former UK Prime Minister, commended him after hearing his amazing story.

As a bored 14-year-old on a rainy day in Scotland, Fraser Doherty had no inkling that his life was about to change in a very, very big way - all because of his gran and her jam.

Initially a loss as to how to keep him amused, Gran decided to spend the afternoon showing him how to make her secret recipe jam. The first few jars were sold to neighbours. The next batch was sold to the rest of the street, the next at the local church fete, then followed farmers markets and delicatessens.

After regularly producing a thousand jams of jar a week in his mum and dad's kitchen, Fraser negotiated a deal with a factory in the north of England who agreed to make and distribute his product, now called SuperJam.

Fraser became the youngest ever supplier to a major supermarket chain when Waitrose launched the range in March 2007. SuperJam now supplies over 1,000 supermarkets in the UK (incl. Waitrose, Tesco, Asda Wal-Mart, Morrisons and 2,000 other stores). It sells over one million jars a year and is one of the biggest jam brands in the UK. It has recently launched in Australia and Fraser will be visiting Australia soon.

Fraser's winning formula is the healthiness of his preserves. SuperJam is made entirely from fruit and fruit juice, making it healthier and better tasting than regular jams. As a result, SuperJam has won over 20 awards and is growing around the world. 

Now, thousands clamour to hear Fraser's story as well as buy his jam. An accomplished, intelligent and engaging speaker, he has spoken at over 100 events in the past year in the UK, US, Canada and around Europe for clients including RBS, Barclays, the NHS, BAE Systems, Columbia University and Eton College. Fraser appeals to all age groups but is particularly inspiring to young people.

More about Fraser Doherty and SuperJam:

In 2007, when Fraser was an accountancy student at The University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland, he was named 'Global Student Entrepreneur of The Year', the first ever winner from outside North America.

In 2008, when Fraser was 19, he was named Scotland's Best Young Innovator for SuperJam at the John Logie Baird Awards.

His other awards include:

• Entreprising Young Brit Award (2005)
• Biggart Baillie Innovation Award (2007)
• Outstanding Young Person of The World (2007)
• Young Entrepreneur of The Year (2007)
• Britain's Best Finalist (2008)
• BT Essence of The Entrepreneur Award (2008)
• Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Award (2008)
• Nectar Business Young Entrepreneur Award (2009)
• HSBC Start-up Stars finalist (2009)
• Big Hearted Scotland Business Person of The Year (2009)

SuperJam is exhibited in the National Museum of Scotland as an 'Iconic Scottish Brand', alongside Irn Bru, Tunnock's and Baxters.

Fraser believes in giving back to society so SuperJam runs 'SuperJam Tea Parties' for elderly people who live alone, in care homes or in sheltered housing. SuperJam has hosted over 125 events across the UK, with live music, dancing and, of course, scones and SuperJam.  Up to 600 guests attend each of these events and they are growing in popularity every month

Still only in his 20s, Fraser has already published two best-selling books: The SuperJam Cookbook and SuperBusiness, which reached No. 3 on Amazon and was named the 'Book of The Month' in WHSmith.

 Fraser Doherty talks about:

• Entrepreneurship
• Social Enterprise/CSR
• Branding/Marketing
• Sales
• Product Development
• Retail