A Valleys food entrepreneur, who was a contestant on Gordon Ramsay’s new Future Food Stars, hopes to open a manufacturing factory in the Rhondda Valley creating jobs.
Asher Flowers, who runs jam, chutney and marmalade brand Enjoy Rogue, has revealed plans for a new manufacturing facility in the Rhondda Valley while he splits his time running the business between Wales and East London.
He hopes to open the factory in the earliest part of next year creating an initial 12 jobs (with the potential to employ as many as 40 as the business grows). At the moment, Asher runs the business by himself.
“It will take the business to the next level," he said. "We want to set the standard for British jams and marmalades, push diversity across the industry as well as become a loved breakfast brand. We want to replicate the success of other businesses that have done well like Hilltop Honey. We've got loads of ambition.”
Aside from creating employment, the facility would also allow Asher to scale the business and shift production capacity from a maximum of 8,000 products a week to between 10,000 and 25,000 products a day.
“We will still maintain the quality, but we want to be able to scale the business to create more products and supply more retailers,” said Asher.
Asher, 28, founded Enjoy Rogue in 2017 when he moved back to Wales after a career in PR and advertising in London while signed to modelling agencies. Initially, he teamed up with his mother Anita, who he said taught him the fundamentals of her hobby making marmalades and chutneys when he was growing up.
With just £350 in his bank account, Asher first tested his products at Cardiff farmers’ markets, before securing enough business loans and investment to develop the eight-strong range.
Currently, the cocktail-inspired Rogue range, which features flavours like espresso martini marmalade and strawberry & tonka bean jam, is currently listed in Waitrose, Asda, Ocado and Getir and exported to the US and Saudi Arabia with plans to grow exports to include Dubai.
Asher is currently trying to secure funding to open the factory via Angel investment and crowdfunding support.
But the Welsh entrepreneur has has spoken out about the challenges BAME (black Asian and minority ethnic) business owners face in trying to get investment to grow their companies.
"It’s easy to start a food business, but very difficult to grow one," said Asher. "There are a lot of ethnically diverse people who get into entrepreneurship. About 13% of the UK population are BAME, but 50% of start-up loan applications are from BAME backgrounds."
“But if we look at statistics behind VC (venture capital) funding, 0.24% of investments went to black founders between 2009 and 2019. We have to be really quite radical in our approach to these inequalities.”
He added: “It’s not just about championing diversity. Real inclusion comes from things like mentorship, grants, and then future investment into these BAME brands.”
Asher exited at the halfway mark of the new Apprentice-style TV programme Future Food Stars which aired on BBC One and saw 12 food entrepreneurs compete for £150,000 of Gordon Ramsay's own money for their food business.
He created street food, foraged in the woods, ran a drive-through and set up a Deliveroo business on the show.
“It was a fantastic opportunity,” said Asher. “It’s not often you get that chance to have one-on-one time with Gordon Ramsay and it was definitely a learning experience. We didn’t win but we’ve come through stronger and learnt a lot of valuable lessons and worked with excellent candidates.”
On working with the TV chef himself Asher said he was exactly like he portrays.
“He’s a lovely bloke, sharp as a tack and there’s a reason he’s got to where he is,” he said. “What I found most bizarre was he never says ‘umm’ or ‘err’, he literally knows exactly what he’s going to say, at all times. He’s the ultimate professional, I found the biggest takeaway that I gained from working with him is learning to be more candid and surrounding yourself with the right people.”
So did Gordon Ramsay try some Asher's products?
“Yes, before anyone was able to go on the show we had to prove that we had a brand worth looking at, so he tried them. He remembered the Espresso Martini marmalade in the range and that is what piqued his interest in the brand.”
