At Walters Nougat they make honey nut nougat by hand. Hand manufacture has its restrictions in terms of how much the family can produce so they have focused on a strategy that sees them trying to make the best quality soft honey and nut nougat as possible.
The secret behind their success is the recipes that matriarch Gilly has created. As Gilly explains, "Family and food have always been my two great passions in life. I am so grateful that Wedgewood (our home) has given me the opportunity to bring the two together. As a family we've learnt about hands on hard work and now we get the chance to experience the benefits of working together."
It all began when the Walters family were running a small vegetable and rose farm called Torchwood in the South African Midlands when serious disease struck and forced them to leave. "Perhaps we all needed a wake-up call to really appreciate our talents and the precious gift of life. Certainly for us it was the beginning of a new and exciting adventure with our three sons."
With an opportunity to start afresh the family moved to a home surrounded by two forests, 'Wedgewood', and set about making it an exciting venue for classical concerts entertaining friends and guests from around the province and hosting musicians from around the world.
Gilly has always been passionate about good wholesome food and used her culinary skills to cater for the concert audiences. It was at one of these concerts that she produced her first batch of nougat and the delighted guests encouraged her to start producing it for the local retail market.
"We first started selling at the local farmer's market and then as word spread it grew one store at a time. Gilly's kitchen soon became the hub of activity and the heart of an exciting small business. "We have now expanded into state-of-the-art facilities on our small farm but the business still has us gathered together as a family, be it entertaining friends, researching new products or just enjoying a work breakfast or lunch amongst the family."
The business is a real family business now as the family (parents, three sons, three daughters-in-law and an ever growing number of grandchildren) all live within a stone's throw of each other and all but two daughters-in-law work in the factory. "Life sure is not dull around here" explains Gilly.
The business continues to go from strength to strength with Walters Nougat now available in stores throughout the UK and the family values of good wholesome food made the old fashioned way with lots of time and loving care has really helped to create a journey to be proud of.
