Ros talks to two Scottish Producers who tasty treats will find their way into the 'Everybody Wins' gift bag at this years Oscars
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00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:03 I'm now joined by Fiona MacArthur of Fetra Chocolates
00:06 in Campbeltown.
00:07 Hi, Fiona.
00:07 How are you?
00:08 Hi.
00:09 Yeah, I'm good.
00:09 Thanks.
00:11 So we're here to talk, obviously,
00:13 about chocolates and your business
00:15 and everything that's happening.
00:16 We're going to be--
00:17 this is going to be out in the lead up to Easter,
00:19 which is obviously a great time for everybody
00:21 eating lots of chocolates.
00:23 But for anyone that doesn't know,
00:24 could you just sort of take us back
00:25 to how it all came about for you and your business?
00:28 Yeah, so I started it about 4 and 1/2 years ago now.
00:33 And I was working in a friend's sweet shop.
00:35 And I had customer after customer come in and ask
00:37 for really specific things, like,
00:40 can I get something that's gluten-free?
00:41 Or can I get something that's dairy-free?
00:44 And nobody was really making these.
00:45 And so I was looking through the wholesale catalogs.
00:47 And I thought, really, nobody makes these.
00:49 So someone should try.
00:50 And then it just kind of fell into place
00:53 that I got a chance to try.
00:54 And I was like, you know what?
00:55 I can do this.
00:56 And I just kept going.
00:57 And it's just gone crazy.
00:58 Was it always something-- so you're
01:02 working in a friend's sweet shop.
01:04 Was it always something you wanted
01:05 to do, as in working sort of food or retail
01:07 or that kind of industry?
01:10 Not really, no.
01:12 I've had like a million different kinds of jobs.
01:15 I've done loads of different things.
01:17 But no, so before this, I was making wedding cakes
01:20 and birthday cakes and stuff.
01:21 So I was kind of in the same sort of zone
01:23 with foodstuffs and sweets and things like that.
01:27 But yeah, the chocolates was just
01:29 a kind of almost accidental thing.
01:33 Yeah, but it's working out really well.
01:35 Yeah, yeah, definitely.
01:37 It's gone from strength to strength.
01:38 So I can't complain.
01:41 And so there's not really--
01:43 well, you could tell.
01:44 Is there any sort of family history
01:45 of working within food or baking?
01:49 Or is there any sort of past that you were harking back to?
01:52 Or is it just totally your own thing?
01:55 No, I think I probably got it from my mom.
01:56 So growing up, we had a tea room,
01:59 or my mom had a tea room.
02:01 So there was always like fresh cakes and tray
02:04 bakes and everything around.
02:05 And she was always baking.
02:06 So from when I was absolutely tiny,
02:09 I would be helping out in the kitchen,
02:10 making scones and things.
02:11 So yeah, I think it's probably come from her.
02:14 Yeah, so like you've said, your chocolate company is--
02:18 it's all sort of free from chocolates.
02:21 And that was obviously a conscious choice
02:24 in the beginning, because no one was obviously doing that.
02:26 But is it more difficult to make chocolates
02:29 without all the things you would expect,
02:31 such as milk or any sort of animal derivative?
02:37 Yeah, so it's actually--
02:38 it's not really all that much difficult.
02:41 I can buy in stock from my chocolate buttons
02:44 that I get, the curvature that I use.
02:46 I get in, it's already got rice milk powder instead
02:49 of dairy milk powder in it to make it creamy.
02:53 But then in terms of the fillings,
02:54 like the ganache inside and things,
02:57 it's more difficult, because all the recipes online--
03:00 well, most of the recipes online are like,
03:03 add butter or add cream or things like that.
03:06 So it's been kind of a lot of trial and error
03:08 to get the recipes right without those kind of things.
03:11 But I wanted to keep them as simple as possible.
03:13 So a lot of the chocolates I do are water-based ganache
03:16 and things like that.
03:17 So it's kind of more simple, and it sort of
03:19 lets the chocolate flavors and any other flavorings
03:22 I want to add come out, as opposed to adding extra flavors
03:26 that the dairy would.
03:27 So yeah, it's been a little bit of a challenge,
03:30 but it's been good.
03:32 And did you ever have to take up any formal training,
03:35 or have you basically just sort of trained yourself
03:38 with what you know you can't use?
03:40 Yeah, so I've sort of just taught myself.
03:42 Yeah, so there's a couple of people
03:44 I follow on Instagram and social media and YouTube and things.
03:48 But mostly, it's-- I've trained myself.
03:51 I did a training course down in London that was two days long.
03:55 And the way that they did things was--
03:58 it was just a home chocolatier.
04:00 And the way that they did things was completely different
04:02 to the way that all the people I'd seen on Instagram doing it
04:05 did it.
04:05 And I thought, the way that Instagram people are doing it
04:08 looks much more natural to me.
04:09 So I'm just going to try and do it that way.
04:13 So yeah, the course wasn't super helpful.
04:15 But it was good to get to work with chocolate
04:18 and get to know whether or not I would enjoy it or not.
04:21 So yeah, it was--
04:23 Yeah, I suppose as well, to know what you feel comfortable with,
04:26 too, to sort of work out your process.
04:30 Yeah, yeah, that's kind of the biggest thing.
04:32 There's a lot of trial and error to figure out what works,
04:35 what ways work.
04:36 And especially even with my most recent batches,
04:39 I've start off being like, this is the flavor I'm aiming for.
04:41 And I would do it one way.
04:43 And then as soon as I'd finished it,
04:44 I'd be like, next time, it would be much easier
04:46 to do it a different way.
04:47 So you kind of learn as you go.
04:50 Well, it's really interesting.
04:53 And for anyone also that doesn't know,
04:55 because I know you've been in the press quite a lot recently
04:58 and will come on to that, what does FETCHA stand for?
05:01 So FETCHA is Free From Ethical Tasty Chocolate Handmade
05:05 Artisan, or ART.
05:08 And that's all the kind of points
05:10 that I wanted to hit when I started the business.
05:12 I wanted it to be free from, so dairy and gluten and soy
05:15 and things like that.
05:17 Ethical because it's vegan, and all the packaging
05:20 is plastic-free.
05:20 So it's really better for the environment.
05:24 And then we plant trees with every order now as well.
05:27 And tasty because I wanted the flavors to really come through,
05:29 and I wanted that to be the big thing.
05:31 A lot of chocolates that you get that are free from
05:33 are quite kind of boring.
05:35 I shouldn't say that.
05:36 But they're really not exciting flavors.
05:38 They're either not exciting flavors,
05:40 or they're way too exciting.
05:42 And so there's not a kind of middle ground
05:44 with people just making nice caramels and stuff.
05:46 So that's kind of why I went with that.
05:49 And then chocolate on handmade because I make everything
05:51 myself still, and art because I wanted them to look pretty.
05:55 So yeah.
05:57 And so talking of flavors, how did you come up
06:00 with the flavors?
06:01 And are you constantly evolving that sort of thought process?
06:06 Yeah, so I do a lot of trial and error
06:10 to find new flavors and things.
06:12 But yeah, when I started the business,
06:15 I had basic flavors in mind.
06:16 Like I knew I wanted to do a salted caramel.
06:19 I knew I wanted to do a basic chocolate mousse.
06:21 And so I've kind of gone on evolutions
06:24 of those a lot of times.
06:26 But yeah, with this new recent batch,
06:29 it's all been pretty--
06:31 more different flavors than I would normally do.
06:33 So it's been a little bit of a--
06:35 a little bit more fun to try and get the flavors to work.
06:39 And you've got-- so talk about the new one just a minute.
06:42 But you've got whiskey flavored ones as well.
06:44 Was that quite a natural-- because obviously you're
06:46 from Campbelltown, and there's a distilling heritage there,
06:48 and the distilleries that are there.
06:50 Was that quite a natural progression
06:51 and was quite easy to sort of work with them?
06:53 Because I know that Glen Scotia anyway sell
06:56 your chocolates in their shop.
06:58 Yeah, Glen Scotia have actually been really supportive.
07:00 It's been fab.
07:02 Yeah, so it was pretty natural.
07:03 We have a whiskey festival here in May every year.
07:07 And just like coming into my second year with the business,
07:11 I thought, you know, I'm going to make some special whiskey
07:13 flavored chocolates for the whiskey festival
07:15 and just see how they do.
07:16 So I did a Campbelltown distilleries collection
07:19 that is one from Glen Scotia, one from Springbank,
07:21 and one from Kilkennan.
07:23 And they were phenomenally popular.
07:27 I made just a small batch, and they just went instantly.
07:30 And I thought, oh, these might be quite popular year round.
07:32 So I kept doing them.
07:33 And yeah, they've been really popular.
07:35 And then last year, Glen Scotia asked for--
07:39 if I would add in more of their flavors.
07:42 So I now have a full separate Glen Scotia box as well.
07:45 And then I've got two new whiskey flavors
07:47 I'm thinking of for this distillery, this Campbelltown
07:50 Malts Festival this year.
07:53 Nice.
07:54 Do you struggle to get your hands on the Springbank
07:56 to use in the chocolates?
07:57 Because I imagine there's quite--
07:59 well, I don't know.
08:00 Obviously, you live there.
08:01 It might not be hard to get.
08:02 But people queue up and go mad for it.
08:04 So are you still quite well stocked?
08:06 Yeah, so I noticed this just the other day.
08:10 So I went for a distillery tour at Springbank the other day.
08:12 And there was lots of people queued up outside.
08:14 And it was a random day at the end of January.
08:17 And I was like, why is it so busy?
08:19 And they said, this is what it's like every morning.
08:21 Oh my goodness.
08:23 But no, so they keep some aside for wholesale,
08:27 so they can sell to the pubs.
08:29 Or there's a girl in town that makes tablet.
08:32 So pretty much all of us use Springbank 10-year-olds.
08:36 And they keep a set number of bottles
08:37 aside every month for wholesale customers.
08:40 So no, it's been not too difficult for me to get that.
08:45 That's handy, because I've been in that queue before,
08:48 by the way.
08:48 [LAUGHTER]
08:50 That's crazy.
08:52 So for anyone that hasn't seen or heard,
08:54 which I doubt there's not anyone left in Scotland,
08:57 your chocolates are going to be in the 2024 Oscars
09:01 Everybody Wins gift bag, which is brilliant.
09:05 So congratulations on that.
09:07 Thank you.
09:09 So can you just talk us through how all that happened?
09:12 Because I can imagine it was--
09:14 I don't know.
09:15 I don't know whether or not you were surprised,
09:17 but was it a big surprise?
09:19 Yeah, it was a big surprise.
09:22 So when I was actually right back
09:24 at the very beginnings of the business,
09:25 when I was sitting in my friend's sweet shop
09:27 thinking about how to make chocolates
09:29 and how to brand the business, like what name to give it
09:32 and everything else, I had--
09:35 the main idea in my head was I wanted
09:37 to look eco-friendly luxury was what I wanted it to embody.
09:42 And I thought, I really want to look not out of place
09:45 in the Oscars goodie bag.
09:46 That was the thought that was going through my head
09:47 the whole time.
09:48 So yeah, I kind of feel like I've manifested a little bit,
09:51 because it was just super randomly, like two years ago,
09:56 I got a message on LinkedIn.
09:57 And the people that organize it messaged and said, hey,
10:01 would you like to be involved in this?
10:03 But at that point, they messaged,
10:05 and it was the beginning of January they'd messaged.
10:07 And they were asking about that year.
10:09 And I thought, I've only got a month and a half
10:10 to get everything organized.
10:12 Like, it just would not have been enough time.
10:14 And I'd only been in business two years.
10:16 So I thought, I don't feel comfortable doing it this year,
10:18 but I definitely do want to do it.
10:20 So can I come back to you in a year or two?
10:22 And they said, yeah, definitely.
10:24 So I've known--
10:25 I signed up to do it this year, this time last year.
10:29 So before the Oscars last year, I contacted them and said,
10:31 I definitely want to do it next year.
10:33 So yeah, I've been planning for this all year long,
10:37 which is funny because I've been planning it so long,
10:40 I feel like a little bit of the excitement's gone
10:43 because I've been thinking about it for so long.
10:45 But then I quite often bump into people
10:47 or speak to people like yourself,
10:49 and they're like, oh, it's so exciting.
10:50 I'm like, yeah, it is.
10:51 And then it just comes back.
10:54 Yeah.
10:55 So I've got them here.
10:57 You've created-- and thank you for sending these.
10:59 You've created an awards collection of chocolates.
11:03 So do you want to just talk us through what is in them?
11:06 And was there a requirement for you to do this,
11:08 or was it just to supply x number of boxes
11:11 of whatever you wanted?
11:13 Yeah, so they had no idea I was going to do this at all.
11:15 They just saw the chocolates and said, could you make--
11:20 could you provide us with chocolates for the goodie bag?
11:23 And I said, yeah, yeah, that's fine.
11:25 And then immediately, I was like,
11:27 I'm going to make special chocolates for this.
11:30 So yeah, I've been planning all year,
11:31 because I knew I wanted to make flavors
11:33 that were going to be relevant to the most
11:37 highly nominated movies.
11:39 So I've got a wee notebook, and I've
11:40 been tracking what movies are most likely to be nominated
11:43 all year long.
11:45 And then so I've made flavors specific to the movies
11:47 that I thought were going to be the most highly nominated,
11:50 and thankfully, turned out to be the most highly nominated.
11:53 So I've got ones for "Killers of the Thurmoon," "Maestro,"
11:56 "Poor Things," "Barbie," "Oppenheimer,"
11:58 and "The Holdovers."
12:00 That's them there.
12:01 Yeah, so this video will go out, so people can see that.
12:05 Yeah, so they look amazing.
12:06 So what is-- do you want to talk me
12:07 through the different films and the different chocolates?
12:12 So in "The Killers of the Thurmoon,"
12:15 I kind of wanted it to be rich, because there's
12:20 the money aspect, but also the land is rich with oil
12:23 and everything.
12:24 So it's a dark caramel ganache, and then it's
12:27 just a plain dark shell, but it's
12:29 splattered with the colors that are most commonly found
12:32 in the flowers of the Osage Nation for the movie set.
12:35 So that's quite cool.
12:36 So it's like splattered with greens and pinks and yellows.
12:41 And then "Maestro" is a salt and pepper kind of melt away.
12:47 So it's quite kind of hard.
12:49 I can cut it into wee squares, and then I dip it,
12:52 and I put a wee musical note pattern on top.
12:56 So it kind of plays into the--
12:58 it's all about him being a conductor and plays piano,
13:01 so I quite like the musical theme there.
13:04 And then it's salt and pepper as well, because they're quite--
13:08 I don't know if you've seen the film,
13:10 but it's a couple that are very different,
13:14 but still kind of pair well together,
13:16 and they still love each other.
13:17 So I thought-- I was trying to think of raccoon
13:19 or brain, what flavors are similar but together,
13:23 and so salt and pepper was what I landed on for that.
13:27 And I'm quite happy with that.
13:28 I think it might be one of my favorites in the box.
13:32 So if you carry on talking, I'm going
13:33 to just try the salt and pepper ones.
13:35 It's delicious.
13:35 Well, they all look amazing, by the way.
13:37 And I must say, I have tried your chocolates before.
13:39 And for anyone that's wondering the free-form kind
13:42 of vegan aspect, you would literally never know.
13:44 Like, I am not vegan, and I think they're delicious.
13:47 So thank you very much.
13:49 So do you want to carry on, and I'll try and eat this quietly?
13:52 [LAUGHTER]
13:55 And then so one of the other ones was Poor Things.
13:58 And it was a real struggle for me, because most of the others,
14:00 I'd been able to see the films beforehand.
14:03 But Poor Things, it didn't come out--
14:06 in Campbelltown, anyway-- it didn't come out until after I
14:08 had to post off the chocolates to the VIPs.
14:11 And I was like, what flavor am I going to do?
14:13 How am I going to know whether I've picked the right flavor?
14:16 So all year long, I was thinking,
14:18 I'll do Passion Fruit Caramel, because I
14:19 know there's a lot of sex scenes in the movie,
14:21 and it's a very passionate film.
14:23 I'd read the book, and I know that she's
14:25 learning all about life, and she's excited.
14:27 So I was like, Passion Fruit Caramel will work.
14:30 But then I had a few people say, oh, I don't know if it will.
14:33 So I posted a thing on Instagram on my stories,
14:36 just saying, has anyone seen the film?
14:37 Can you tell me what flavors you think would work?
14:40 And everyone said custard tart.
14:42 So I was like, right, fine.
14:43 I'll do custard tart.
14:44 So that was a kind of random shot in the dark, Hail Mary.
14:48 But it paid off, because I've now seen the film,
14:50 and yet I can't think--
14:52 there's no other flavor I would have done than custard tart.
14:55 So it's like a soft, white chocolate ganache
14:58 on the inside with a wee bit of cinnamon, a wee bit of nutmeg,
15:01 and some custard flavoring, just to kind of make it
15:03 that kind of creamy, custardy way.
15:06 And it's in like a wee pie case thing
15:08 that's milk chocolate shell.
15:11 And it has a wee dusting of cinnamon over the top as well.
15:14 And then Barbie, it is a pink sparkly heart.
15:17 It's all like white chocolate colored
15:20 with a wee bit of pink in it, just to kind of make
15:22 it pink for Barbie, obviously.
15:24 I couldn't have done anything else.
15:26 And then it's a strawberry and rose filling on the inside.
15:31 I'd seen lots of outfits that Margot Robbie had
15:34 worn on the press tour.
15:35 And there was a few of them that featured strawberries,
15:37 and then a few others that featured roses.
15:39 And I thought, well, they're both pink,
15:40 and they're both quite feminine flavors.
15:42 So that's why I went with that one.
15:45 And my brother, who hates rose, says
15:47 that that is his favorite chocolate in the box.
15:49 So I feel like I've done OK with that one, so I'm quite happy.
15:54 And then Oppenheimer is like a dark chocolate chili
15:59 ganache on the insides.
16:01 It's quite a hard ganache, so I can roll it into a ball.
16:05 And then I dip it in a yellow chocolate.
16:09 So it's like white chocolate with a wee bit of color
16:11 in it.
16:12 And then I also dip it in yellow chocolate
16:16 with a popping candy through it, so that when you bite into it,
16:20 it kind of explodes.
16:21 You immediately get that explosion
16:22 from the popping candy.
16:24 And then as you're eating it, the warmth of the chili
16:26 comes out.
16:27 So it's kind of like a wee afterburn, which
16:29 is--
16:30 I'm quite happy with as well.
16:31 It worked.
16:31 I had in my head that that's what I was going to do,
16:34 and just hoped that it would work.
16:36 And yeah, it did, thankfully.
16:39 So I'm quite happy with that one as well.
16:41 It's a massive chicken.
16:42 I'm like a toddler.
16:44 So it always gives me a bit of a fright when it explodes.
16:47 So if you just half bite into it,
16:50 you kind of get a bit of a fright,
16:52 because it bubbles on your lips.
16:53 But I quite like that too, because it's a big bomb.
16:56 So it kind of makes sense that it's a punchy chocolate.
17:01 And then--
17:01 [INTERPOSING VOICES]
17:02 I'm just going to pop in in case the mic picks up.
17:05 [LAUGHTER]
17:08 And then the last one, the Holdovers,
17:11 is set in the 1970s.
17:13 And I think they actually used old film reel,
17:15 or an approximation of old film reel for it.
17:18 So it felt kind of aged.
17:21 And it was a more kind of simple time and everything.
17:23 And any chocolates you got back then would have been plain.
17:26 So I knew I didn't want to do any colors or anything fancy
17:28 for that.
17:29 So it's just a plain dark chocolate shell.
17:32 It has a wee laurel wreath pattern on top,
17:34 because the professor in the main character
17:38 is a professor who teaches history and classics.
17:41 And I thought, well, laurel wreath works for that as well,
17:44 because it's sort of an ancient kind of Roman,
17:47 Grecian kind of thing.
17:49 And then there's a scene in the film
17:52 where they have cherries and ice cream.
17:54 And I thought it's quite a kind of big-ish scene.
17:56 And I thought that would be a great flavor to do.
17:58 So I've done a cherry pâte de frie,
18:01 and then a sort of white chocolate ice cream
18:04 ganache in the bottom.
18:06 So you kind of get both at the same time.
18:10 Well, I've just tried--
18:11 while you've been talking, I have tried the Maestro one,
18:13 which is delicious.
18:14 And you can really taste the pepper.
18:16 It's really, really-- you can really taste the pepper,
18:18 which is lovely.
18:18 And the Poppin' Candy one, you're right.
18:20 It's really-- it is quite explosive,
18:22 and that sort of pinging off in your mouth.
18:24 And then the chili comes through.
18:26 Really, really nice.
18:27 Lovely.
18:29 And yeah, like I say, you would never
18:30 know that you were having something that was dairy-free
18:34 and all that type of thing.
18:35 So yeah, they're delicious, and they look amazing.
18:37 And you must be really excited to think
18:39 that all these famous people are going to be like,
18:41 wow, here's your chocolates.
18:42 Yeah.
18:43 So yeah, when you asked earlier if they
18:47 knew I was going to do flavored, like special edition chocolates
18:51 for it, they had no idea whatsoever.
18:55 And I actually saw a post just recently
18:57 on one of their LinkedIns.
18:59 And they were like, oh my god, this is amazing.
19:02 It's so cool.
19:03 It's all themed to the movies and everything else.
19:06 And I was kind of looking back in the years before,
19:08 and nobody else does this.
19:10 Most people do maybe one solid flavor
19:12 that represents something.
19:14 But yeah, it has been a huge undertaking.
19:19 But no, I'm really excited to think that--
19:22 they get these big goodie bags.
19:24 They must get lots of freebies.
19:25 So I wanted to do something different
19:27 that they might actually pick up and be like, oh, this
19:30 is interesting.
19:30 I might be interested in that.
19:32 So yeah, I'm really excited to think
19:35 that my chocolates are going to be in Bradley Cooper's house.
19:38 Like, what?
19:40 It's crazy.
19:41 From this tiny town in Camden Town as well.
19:43 It's not like the West Coast of Scotland, middle of nowhere,
19:46 it feels like most times.
19:47 It's just crazy.
19:49 Yeah.
19:50 You never know.
19:50 You might have some of them come to visit
19:52 off the back of it.
19:53 Yeah.
19:54 When my mom said that, she was like,
19:56 can you imagine if one of them came into the shop?
19:58 Like, I would be amazed.
19:59 Because I'm hardly ever in the shop these days,
20:01 and I would miss them.
20:02 Oh, no, that's great.
20:06 So yeah, what an achievement.
20:08 Just, yeah, it's lovely.
20:10 And it's nice they're picking--
20:12 I mean, they probably do this all the time,
20:14 but independent businesses in Scotland as well.
20:17 You just think, it's a big American institution.
20:19 You wouldn't really expect it.
20:21 So it's lovely that it's happening.
20:22 Yeah.
20:23 Yeah, definitely.
20:24 It's really exciting.
20:25 Yeah.
20:26 Cool.
20:27 Well, I'll just say thank you very much,
20:29 and good luck with it all, and have a nice Easter.
20:32 And yeah, thanks very much.
20:35 Perfect.
20:35 Thank you.
20:36 Yeah, it was fun to have a chat.
20:39 I'm now joined by Kim Cameron, owner of the Gin Bothy.
20:42 Hi, Kim, how are you?
20:44 Great, thanks.
20:45 Hope you're doing well.
20:46 Yeah, good, thank you.
20:48 So before we get into the star-studied Oscars news
20:53 about your gin, could you just tell us
20:55 a little bit about your company and how it all came to be?
20:57 Because I know you've been described as an accidental gin
21:00 maker in the past.
21:01 So that sounds like something that's quite interesting.
21:06 Yeah, I guess accidental because I entered a jar of jam
21:10 into the World Championships.
21:12 Now, there is such a thing.
21:13 It was held in Dundee 10 years ago.
21:15 And I won a category with one of my jams.
21:19 And I converted a wee bothy up the glen called the Jam Bothy.
21:22 And I was following the seasonal calendar of Angus,
21:25 which is where I'm from, with amazing raspberries,
21:28 strawberries, blueberries, strawberries.
21:30 And we created a range of jams.
21:32 And one of the byproducts of jam, as I'm sure a lot of you
21:36 will know, is that you have fruit and juice left over.
21:39 And my mum, in her wisdom, said, well, rather than waste it,
21:42 why don't you add it to gin?
21:43 Because that's what we used to do.
21:45 So the long and short of the story
21:46 is I started to add it to gin.
21:49 And there was more people coming up the glen for the gin
21:51 than the jam.
21:52 And the gin bothy--
21:54 jam bothy-- I took a bit of a backseat,
21:56 and jam bothy took over.
21:58 And that was 10 years ago now.
22:01 Wow.
22:02 So yeah, that's pretty sad.
22:05 I bet you didn't actually think that was going to happen.
22:07 I mean, I know gin has been on the up for a while.
22:09 But could you foresee that this is what you'd be doing now?
22:14 No, I mean, those days, we were one of the first
22:16 producers of fruit liqueurs.
22:18 So we had a range of full-strength spirits
22:21 we've developed into with our gin, our rum,
22:25 and bringing whiskey to market this year,
22:28 and also still producing our jam.
22:29 And this year, we were delighted to-- well,
22:31 2023, we won gold, silver, and bronze
22:35 at the World Jam Festival.
22:36 So we've come full circle from doing jam and gin,
22:41 so spirit and jam now.
22:43 Wow, that's really cool.
22:45 So your big news in the last couple of months
22:48 was that you were approached to put a gin in the Osgoode
22:51 Goodie Bag.
22:53 How did all that come about?
22:54 And was it one of those things that you kind of thought,
22:57 what's even happening?
22:59 Oh, it's a super-punch me moment.
23:01 It actually started two years ago
23:03 when we launched our original and our gunshot gin
23:07 in America.
23:08 And there was a gap in the Oscar nominee Goodie Bag.
23:12 And we were asked whether we were interested in putting
23:16 a product in there.
23:17 There was a couple of other Scottish producers
23:19 who were not-- let's talk about that again.
23:23 So a couple of years ago, there was a gap in the Goodie Bag.
23:26 And there was some Scottish businesses
23:28 that had supported the Goodie Bag.
23:30 So you had a stay in a castle.
23:32 And they were looking for a spirit.
23:33 So I let them taste our spirit.
23:36 And it was actually two years ago.
23:38 And I couldn't get enough spirit into America at that point.
23:43 So they said, we really want to work with you.
23:45 And we'll roll it into this year.
23:46 So that's why it's 2024.
23:49 So absolutely delighted to be able to say
23:51 that our original gin, which we've
23:53 done a special distillation for them,
23:56 is in the Oscar nominee Goodie Bag.
23:58 So each of the Oscar nominees-- so there's
24:00 25 bottles of original gin in batch one of 24--
24:05 has gone into the Goodie Bag.
24:09 So you've got a real taste of Scotland in that bag.
24:11 You've got heather, milk thistle, scots pine, rosemary,
24:14 all in the original gin.
24:15 So absolutely excited to see who picks that up.
24:19 And hopefully, somebody shares that they enjoy it.
24:22 And they've got a lot of Scots gin.
24:25 And does it feel really sort of surreal
24:27 to think that people like Bradley Cooper and Emma Stone
24:30 are going to be drinking your gin?
24:33 Oh, absolutely.
24:34 And we're so proud to be able to showcase the Scots gin
24:37 over there.
24:38 And we talk about a bothy being the home in the hills.
24:41 So this is from our Scottish home
24:42 to the Hollywood home in the hills.
24:45 And if any of them--
24:47 I know a lot of them don't have social media,
24:49 but to have Hylian Murphy, Bradley Cooper, Jodie Foster,
24:53 any of these people with our Scots gin
24:56 for a small independent producer is a really big deal.
25:00 And you said-- so you've done a special batch
25:02 of your original gin.
25:03 Were you asked to do that?
25:04 Or was that just something that you wanted to do?
25:07 Well, we wanted to do something that
25:10 was a little bit different.
25:11 We wanted it to be more than just our traditional gin, which
25:14 is a multi-award winning gin anyway.
25:16 But I thought, how do we make it a bit more
25:18 special for the Oscar nominees?
25:20 So yeah, batch one of 24, it's 300 bottles in the distillation.
25:24 And 25 of them have gone over to the US.
25:27 So we still have some available if anybody
25:30 wants to get their hands on an Oscar gin in the UK.
25:34 I don't know.
25:34 I think you definitely will get some takers on that.
25:39 So going forward, obviously, the Oscars are quite soon.
25:43 How do you plan to leverage that now?
25:45 Are you going to promote what you've got left from that batch?
25:48 Or are you going to make another special one for people?
25:51 Or what are your plans to push it forward from this point?
25:56 Well, I hadn't really planned to do anything exciting,
25:58 to be honest.
25:59 And my team-- so I'm supported by a team of 19 women.
26:02 And they were like, we've got to go for this.
26:04 So we've got little Oscar statues
26:06 that will go in with each of the batch one of 24
26:09 of our original gin.
26:12 We've been amazing support from local customers,
26:15 from our wholesale and retail customers, and also from press.
26:19 So we've had some great PR on the back of it.
26:21 So little Oscar nominees, and we've done Oscar recipe cards.
26:24 So you can celebrate your Oscar parties
26:27 with different cocktail combinations
26:30 using our original gin.
26:33 Do you know any of those that you
26:34 could share with us just now?
26:36 Or do you have a favorite cocktail for the Oscars?
26:38 Well, we've done-- so we've done some
26:40 of the Hollywood Negronis.
26:42 We've done-- yeah, you'll have to wait and see.
26:44 There's some really special ones there.
26:46 And we partnered with some bartenders
26:47 to do some Hollywood A-lister celebrity-inspired cocktails.
26:55 So there's three that we've recommended
26:57 that would work really well with your Oscar party.
27:00 Our original gin is 100% natural sugar-free.
27:03 And it's amazing with different flavor combinations.
27:07 We've paired it-- my personal favorite
27:09 is probably the Negroni.
27:11 So I've got to recommend that.
27:13 Classic.
27:15 I feel like that's something that Bradley Cooper might have.
27:18 I would love Bradley Cooper to have that.
27:19 Imagine, he's just sitting there with one Irish-Scottish gin
27:22 and a cocktail.
27:23 I mean, who would want more than that?
27:27 So you mentioned your whisky.
27:29 Is that something that you've got coming up this year
27:31 that you could maybe talk about?
27:34 Yeah, so we've been working for quite a few years
27:37 with Gunshot.
27:38 So Gunshot is my best selling product.
27:40 And it's an infused gin with cinnamon, clove, nutmeg,
27:44 spice.
27:45 So it actually looks like a whisky, but it is a gin.
27:48 And especially for the export market,
27:50 as much as they like gins, they're
27:52 much more geared towards whisky.
27:54 So we've moved our Gunshot as our lead product into a whisky.
27:59 It's just called Gunshot whisky.
28:00 And we launched that this coming week at Scotland's showcasing
28:05 event in Edinburgh.
28:07 And it'll be really interesting to see
28:08 what the market thinks of this.
28:09 We all love it.
28:10 And it means that we've got Gunshot gin
28:12 and we've got a Gunshot whisky.
28:14 So excited to see what the rest of our customer
28:16 base think of that.
28:18 Nice.
28:18 I'd love to send you some.
28:20 Yeah, definitely.
28:20 Send us something.
28:21 Good.
28:23 So also, as well, when the Oscars goodie bag people asked
28:28 you--
28:28 sorry, it's distinctive assets, isn't it--
28:30 asked you before, and you couldn't get the gin
28:33 into America, is that a common problem?
28:35 Is that something that-- just one of those things
28:37 that happens?
28:39 It's really hard to get spirit into the US
28:41 unless you have an importer and a distributor appointed.
28:45 Now, we are in 23 states in the US.
28:48 We sell through Total Wines, which is our retailer
28:51 that we work with.
28:53 But actually, to get gin or any spirit between each state
28:57 is quite complicated.
28:58 So we just couldn't get enough into California in time
29:02 for them to do the Oscar nominee bag last year.
29:06 So that's why this year it gave us a bit more time
29:08 to make sure we had the right product in the right place.
29:11 And we were all ready for what they wanted to do this year's
29:14 Oscar nominees.
29:16 So yeah, super excited about that.
29:18 Yeah.
29:19 And if the company-- if distinctive assets came to you
29:22 next month and said, which other Scottish businesses would
29:26 you recommend for next year for the bag,
29:28 is there anyone that springs to mind that you're like,
29:31 we have to get these people?
29:34 I think this year they've gone with a tequila.
29:36 So they've got a really high-end tequila.
29:38 I think we were selected because we had a really small batch.
29:42 We've done a limited edition batch for them.
29:44 And that's really important to that market.
29:47 So anybody that's producing small batch, something
29:50 really special, it's worth approaching to say, look,
29:54 are you interested?
29:55 Because that's what makes it special to them,
29:57 something that's--
29:59 when I'm not on the high street, kind of buy something
30:01 a wee bit different.
30:02 It's definitely appealing to their customers.
30:04 And hopefully Bradley Cooper, too.
30:07 And is there anyone that you would recommend off
30:10 the top of your head, any sort of small business
30:12 maybe up your way or within Scotland
30:14 that you think's really, really doing really well just now?
30:18 I think they've made it quite clear that they
30:21 want something different.
30:22 So they've done a tequila.
30:23 They've done-- they've obviously got gin.
30:26 I think it'll be whiskey next year that is probably
30:29 going to have a resurgence.
30:32 So yeah, maybe some small batch cask, single bottle
30:37 in that somebody might be able to do specifically
30:39 for the Oscars.
30:40 So yeah, any whiskey producer that's
30:42 looking for a small batch but then wants to sell into the US,
30:48 it would be a really good platform for them.
30:50 But it would have to be something quite special.
30:52 Yeah.
30:54 And we're just obviously still at the start of 2024.
30:58 Have you got anything else coming up this year
30:59 that you want to chat about or say or can tell us about,
31:05 apart from your whiskey?
31:06 We've got some really exciting collaborations.
31:08 And I think for me as a Scottish producer,
31:11 the more collaborations we can do with other Scottish
31:13 businesses, I think that's going to be the secret for 2024.
31:18 So we launched our Bothy Butter last year.
31:20 We're working with some really cool recipes around rum
31:24 butters and introducing our rum into butter.
31:26 We've got our Jam Bothy range.
31:28 There's some-- just won another couple of awards with that.
31:31 So we'd like to do a little bit more there.
31:34 I think whiskey for me is going to take up most of my time
31:36 this year.
31:37 I'm really excited about getting involved
31:39 with Tartan Week, which is coming up in April.
31:42 So we're over in America.
31:43 I'm over in Barbados at the Scottish Celtic Festival
31:47 over there in May, and then back into the States into autumn.
31:52 So yeah, lots of traveling for us this year,
31:55 lots of collaboration, and really hopefully
31:58 paving the way for other Scottish producers
32:00 to open up those markets.
32:03 But yeah, lots of new things, but not anything
32:06 that I can tell you about totally at the moment.
32:10 Whichever Barbados sounds like something Kelly and I should
32:13 come on.
32:14 Well, do you know there's thousands of people
32:16 go over every year to the Celtic Festival.
32:18 There's as many people playing the bagpipes and drums.
32:21 And I sing Bothy traditional songs from the Northeast.
32:24 So I'm asked to sing at quite a few festivals.
32:27 And honestly, there's as many Scottish people
32:29 as passionate out with Scotland as in Scotland.
32:32 So I definitely encourage you, if you're
32:34 into Highland games or Celtic festivals,
32:37 to go and experience some outside of Scotland,
32:39 because people are so passionate about brand Scotland.
32:42 Yeah, definitely.
32:44 So anyone who wants to try your gins, who
32:47 hasn't tried your gins, or wants to continue to try your gins,
32:49 where can they get all the information
32:51 and potentially possibly get a bottle
32:53 that the Oscars are also getting?
32:57 Get a bottle of the Oscar gin.
32:59 So we've got an amazing supportive network
33:01 of retailers, delis, and farm shops throughout Scotland,
33:06 mostly in Scotland, not as many in the South.
33:09 But you can buy with online delivery just www.ginbothy.co.uk.
33:15 And that will give you access to our full range there.
33:18 And if you're listening from the States,
33:20 Total Wines is still a retailer that we have our original
33:24 and our gunshot gin in there.
33:26 And we are looking to expand the US network this year.
33:30 And I'll be over at Tartan Week.
33:32 So if you are listening from America,
33:34 hopefully see you at Tartan Week.
33:35 I wish I could say I could see you at the Oscars,
33:38 but you're more likely to see me at one of the farmers markets
33:41 or shows in the UK than in the US.
33:45 Well, thank you very much.
33:46 And I feel like at some point we will need to talk
33:48 to you more about the jam.
33:49 I didn't realize that there was a jam championship.
33:52 I knew there was obviously, you know, scotch pies
33:53 and sausage rolls and porridge making,
33:56 but the jam's a new one on me.
33:58 That sounds amazing.
33:59 I can't make jam, but I'm terrible at it.
34:02 Well, do you know, for me, the traditional things
34:05 that in our generation, if we lose,
34:07 I think we've lost something really special.
34:09 And because we're surrounded by the most amazing fruit
34:12 in Angus, jam was our natural start, I suppose.
34:16 But we do some jam making classes.
34:18 So if you ever want to come along, you're more than welcome.
34:20 But jam bothy is very much, you can buy us in lots
34:24 of different retailers across the UK.
34:27 And yeah, we just won gold, silver and bronze and picked
34:30 up at Farm Shop and Deli Awards,
34:32 another couple of awards there too.
34:34 So really excited about how jam is going to develop this year.
34:38 And we're working on a chutney too.
34:39 So if jam's maybe not your thing,
34:41 you can always come and try your hand at chutney.
34:44 I'm terrible at making that as well.
34:46 So I need to go and get some sets.
34:49 You can add some gin to that,
34:50 'cause after we've finished soaking the raspberries
34:52 in the gin, we'll make it back into jam,
34:54 so there's no waste.
34:55 So you've got raspberry and gin jam.
34:56 Maybe you'd be better at that.
34:58 Yeah, yeah, yeah.
34:59 I mean, after a couple of gins, I definitely would be,
35:01 but yeah, it's living in a city as well.
35:03 You go and you think you want to do all these things,
35:06 but there's not the availability
35:07 when you're in the countryside.
35:08 So, 'cause I'm from Fife.
35:09 So yeah, I think between the two of us,
35:11 we've got quite a lot of good soft fruit,
35:13 but yeah, I need to up my skills.
35:16 Well, thank you very much.
35:20 And yeah, congratulations again.
35:23 And I'm looking forward to seeing what happens
35:25 after the Oscars or who's going to post what
35:27 and who loves what.
35:28 And I'm really hoping that between you
35:31 and Fetcher Chocolates,
35:32 that somebody really famous is like,
35:34 "These are great.
35:35 Let's post about them."
35:37 So.
35:39 Yeah, fingers crossed.
35:40 It's good for everybody.
35:41 And good for Brandspotland too, for other producers.
35:44 Yeah.
35:45 Well, thank you very much.
35:46 (upbeat music)