Something New From JamBusters!
I have had a lot of fun in the kitchen throughout November. I found some interesting recipes and decided to try out a few unusual combinations and the results were a few new items for sale at our JamBusters! booth in the Oliver Indoor Flea Market. For example, new this month was Candy Apple (Cinnamon) Jelly, Red Onion/Lemon Zest Jelly, and Scotch Bonnet Pepper/Apricot Jelly (we called this one Golden Bonnet Jelly). I also created some new dry soup mixes and packaged them in 250-mil jars to make them budget-friendly. The varieties available include Lentil Soup or Salad and Calico Soup. I also made my own Garlic Salt and Garlic Pepper. Making a return to our inventory was Red Bell Pepper & Garlic Jelly (no heat, but an intensely popular item over the past couple of years), Cherry Bomb Pepper Jelly, Haskap Beast Berry Jam, Tamarind Chutney, Ring O' Fire Pepper Jelly, and Hab-O (Habanero/Orange) Pepper Jelly to name a few.
The Numbers Are Improving
After a dip in October from September, our November 2020 numbers are back on track. We had a total of 9 sales days during the month and went through 99 jars. That's up from the 83 sold in October 2020 over 9 days and still down from the 136 jars sold in September 2020 over 8 days. Other stats from November include only two sales days of single digits with our slowest day on Saturday, November 14 with just 5 jars sold and our best day was Saturday, November 7 with 14 jars. Both of those days also happened to be two of the three vending days where Watkins products outsold JamBusters!
COVID Guidelines Keep Changing
The COVID-19 protocols in the province of British Columbia continue to change. Mid-month, the provincial health officer chose to make mask-wearing mandatory in all indoor retail public spaces. That means where we vend in Oliver, all vendors and customers are to be wearing masks. For George and I, that is a very easy guideline to follow as both of us have been doing that anyway. While we are hoping to remain open into the New Year, we are also half expecting to see another shutdown that may impact our business as we experienced back in March. That being said, the traffic numbers at the market have steadily dropped this month. Both George and I think it has to do with people choosing to stay home rather than risk exposure by going out and we can completely understand that position. However, I have also made deliveries for some customers who are self-isolating and that seems to be an option that has worked well for both them and us.
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