Marie Jenny Monty: Sugar-free jams with a punch

Jenny Monty is an entrepreneur at heart. Her passion lies in making homemade jams in the most typical and exotic style, that she learned since childhood from her grandmother. After many years of experience, in 2009, she embarked on auto-entrepreneurship. This is how the label ‘Jenny’s Jam’ was born. Today, she specialises in making jam for diabetes. It is in the village of Pointe aux Biches that we met Jenny, a busy, hardworking and above all, jovial lady. She relates how she has developed a passion for making jam when she was spending her school holidays with her grandmother in Grand Gaube. “My grandparents were very passionate about cultivating different types of tropical fruits. In their big orchard, we could find plenty of pineapples, avocados, mangoes, guavas among others,” she recalls. For Jenny, it was a great pleasure watching her grandmother preparing pickles, jams, candies or crystallised fruits. “For my grandma, making pickles, crystallised fruits and jam was a method to keep the surplus of fruits in the orchard for months,” she says. [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"17227","attributes":{"class":"media-image wp-image-29188 alignleft","typeof":"foaf:Image","style":"","width":"249","height":"370","alt":"Jenny-Jams"}}]]It was only after her marriage that Jenny decided to put into practice the skills she learned from her grandmother. “At first, I used to do it on the sides. Therefore, I was preparing jam for the family, neighbours and friends,” says Jenny. Later, in 2009, after discovering the programmes of the National Women Entrepreneur Council (NWEC) in the media to promote women empowerment, she decided to move forward with her passion in a more professional way. In addition, she reached an age where her children were becoming independent. Like many mothers, she quickly realised that a new opportunity was opening up to her. She also admits to having had the encouragement and support of her husband in this new adventure. “Without any delay, I began to follow culinary courses, including ‘healthy eating’ with the Agricultural Research and Extension Unit (AREU),” she emphasises. Her speciality: sugar-free jam. “I make jam in a natural way, without preservatives or chemical products for conservation,” Jenny says. And who says people suffering from diabetics cannot consume jam. In her activity, Jenny has targeted this type of consumers. “Nowadays, I also prepare jam with no sugar and I must say that there is a high demand for it. Even those who do not have diabetics prefer the sugar free jam. This shows how people are concerned about their health,” she highlights. Her traditional jams are made from a variety of tropical fruits such as ‘Goyave de chine’, pineapple, papaya and grapefruit. However, since few years, she has also introduced new flavours to her product range. “I wanted to make products that others do not so as to differentiate myself in this competitive market. So I started making jams using coconut, fresh vanilla, apple and cinnamon, lemon and ginger among others.” These new flavours, she says, are much appreciated by customers. The small pots of 200 grams are sold at Rs 75 while the large jars of 300 gram designated for large families are sold at Rs 375. However, she states that it is the small pots that are most popular, especially for tourists who find it easy to slide in their suitcases. Jenny produces on average 50 jars of jam per month. However, sometimes the production increases depending on the orders she receives. This 49-year old lady has also managed to place her products in many stores across the island especially in Trou-aux-Biches and several fairs organised regularly in Caudan Waterfront and La Croisette. But the dream that she holds close to her heart is to open up her own boutique. In fact, she has already launched herself in this process. At the same time, she wants to help housewives in her locality to find a job. “I think we women, we have a great potential in terms of ability to work and pertinence. But many women do not know how to showcase their talents,” she adds. Her objective this year is to see her products on supermarket shelves and hypermarkets. Making jam is not her only undertaking. Jenny also works as a part-time cook in a hotel. Her hobbies are jogging and ‘zumba’.