The countdown is on for Taste of Grampian, the festival that sees thousands of people descend on Inverurie to sample the best local produce from across the north-east of Scotland.
Aside from serving as a foodie’s paradise, the festival can provide a vital lifeline for small businesses attempting to reach the masses with a niche product.
For many of the stall holders, their business is an all-consuming affair which has derived from circumstance.
Many people are now looking at alternative ways of income following the oil downturn, as well as mums who often juggle running a family business with childcare instead of working 9-5.
For Felicity Macdonald, her flourishing chocolate business happened quite by accident, yet she now provides The Marcliffe and Aberdeen Football Club to name but two with luxury chocolate made in her kitchen.
It could not be more different from her time spent as an army nurse with the Queen Alexandra Royal Army Nursing Core which saw her spend three years working in war zones alongside a spell in Germany.
The 55-year-old juggles the business with school runs for her two sons, 13-year-old Hamish and 11-year-old William.
Felicity’s husband, Rory, has also been roped in, but is officially known as Captain Macdonald for Aberdeen Air Ambulance.
Family life at their home in Alford is certainly chaotic, indeed Felicity has now decided to sell the house and build bigger premises for the business.
Her decision might appear a huge gamble to some, but she has no regrets.
FELICITY’S STORY
There’s no mistaking the fact that I took a chance on the business, the equipment alone cost thousands of pounds.
It’s not in my nature to think about failure though, probably because of the years I spent nursing.
If you don’t try, you’ll never know and I honestly never considered failure.
I never saw myself running a business in the first place though, I thought my life would be dedicated to nursing.
After I had my boys I became an occupational health nurse at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, but I was met with the problem which thousands of parents face.
It was a massive juggling act trying to sort out childcare. I’ll never forget the day that saw me quit nursing for good.
It was December 2010 when I got a phone call at work.
The children usually got dropped off by the school bus and were met by a child minder, only this time the child minder wasn’t there.
It was dark and there was sleet coming down, and the worst thing was there was nothing I could do.
Both me and Rory were at work and a 30-minute drive away.
Thankfully my neighbour took the boys in but when I think about what could have happened …
I got home and that same night I turned to Rory and said I was giving up work, because this could never be allowed to happen again.
I started looking at what I could do instead but that was incredibly daunting, nursing was all I knew and it was the only thing I was qualified in.
I started doing children’s parties which went quite well and as part of that I started making cupcakes.
I tried my hand at these chocolate designs which went on top of the cupcake and they proved pretty popular.
I got the idea from a magazine I read in an airport lounge and thought I’d give it a go.
That’s what changed everything.
People started asking me to make the chocolate as wedding favours and then it grew arms and legs.
I wound up the party business and decided to focus purely on the chocolate.
I never imagined that we’d be supplying to the likes of Mitchells in Inverurie but that’s not to say there haven’t been difficult times.
Going to events such as Taste of Grampian has been so helpful not just for the business but also for me.
There are so many advantages to working from home but it can also be incredibly insular.
I think I would go stir-crazy if I stayed at home all the time. I love going out to events and meeting customers.
I think a lot of mums who work from home are faced with loneliness and it’s a struggle to separate work from home life.
This was meant to be our forever home but we now plan to build a new house where we can incorporate the business on site.
At the moment I’m doing everything in the kitchen, although there isn’t a typical day.
If I do an order for player of the year for Aberdeen football club, that’s 750 boxes of chocolates.
I work until the order is complete and that can involve working through the night because I do everything myself, right down to the labels.
I wouldn’t change it for the world though, I love the flexibility it offers and the independence.
There’s also the sheer joy of producing my own product and the camaraderie with other producers.
You recognise people from the previous year at Taste of Grampian and if you need to nip away, they’ll watch your stall.
There’s something really lovely about that and you build up a rapport. I make my own rules with the business but I’m so glad I did it.
It has been a massive gamble but so far, it has paid off.
Taste of Grampian is a one-day food and drink festival celebrating quality products, from the finest smoked salmon to rich fudge.
There’s also an outdoor fish market and marquee for arts and crafts.
Headline celebrity chef James Martin will be showcasing some of his best recipes, alongside Lady Claire Macdonald OBE who owns Michelin starred Kinloch Lodge Hotel in Skye.
Food and drink columnist Susy Atkins will be doing a wine master class, and Brian McLeish who is head chef at The Moonfish Cafe in Aberdeen will be running demonstrations.
The event will be held on June 3 at Thainstone in Inverurie.
For more information, visit www.tasteofgrampian.co.uk
