Young British Foodie: Nicola Patchett is a marshmallow maker and online sweet shop founder

 
30 October 2012

Nicola Patchett, 32, is a marshmallow maker and online sweet shop founder based in Upper Holloway

What she does: From Monday until Wednesday Nicola works as a policy analyst in the government “to pay the rent” but she spends the evenings, Thursdays, Fridays and the weekends making marshmallows. Since 2011 she has been making her own sweets selling them in London delis and shops and from her website (she currently stocks marshmallow flavours which include raspberry, lemon meringue, English lavender, gingerbread). “It’s getting quite full on at the moment. I want to do this full time. Luckily my employer’s been really supportive,” she says.

How she did it: During a visit to Canada in 2009 she noticed that in all of the sweet shops people were making their products on the premises. "It was amazing. On the long coach journeys out there, I thought about how to start a sweet shop.” After that Nicola began giving stuff to friends and family and bringing it into work to help her refine the recipes. “In the long term, I want to improve my skills but right now I’m just teaching myself how to do it all.”

What’s next: She is working on new candy-type sweets, chocolates and new packaging for the Patchett's Confectionery range. Everything she makes uses natural ingredients and has no artificial flavours.

Why she does it: “I’ve got such a sweet tooth. I eat sweets all the time and I’ve always wanted to open my own shop.”

Where you can find her: Nicola will have a stand at the BBC Good Food Show London at Olympia London on November 9-11, bbcgoodfoodshowlondon.com, patchettsconfectionery.co.uk

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