Cheryl Scafe, an Early Childhood Studies BA London Met alumni previously worked in schools, nurseries and at Hammersmith West London college as a mentor. Now she is setting her sights on the sweet treats industry with her product called Jah Drops!
In 2016 Cheryl took part in our Christmas Market and Quickstart programmes to test her product with real customers and develop her branding and packaging. We recently sat down with Cheryl to see how she is getting on with her handmade, homemade and very delicious organic Caribbean sweets.
Cheryl recently started selling Jah Drops in the Raw Store in Old Street. She currently offers coconut and peanut flavours, with added ginger and spices. She told us, “I wasn’t planning on going into the Raw Store but I walked past and thought I should just go in there! So I turned myself around, went in, polite and just myself. I was conversing with the guy that manages the organic range and he introduced me to his boss. They bought the whole batch off me! He said “Buy the batch off her, how many can you do?”, it was so fast and quick, I was quite surprised.
We asked Cheryl what gave her the confidence to go straight into the shop, she said “From 2016 coming on the Quickstart programme, you have an idea in your head and you’re not really sure if its good enough. But learning all the foundational things about what to do with your products and hearing everyone’s testimonial and being encouraged; that gave me the confidence to say yeah I’ve got something here.”
We asked Cheryl about her experience running a stall at the market, she told us “The Christmas market was a really nice experience, I didn’t sell as much as I would’ve loved to but the product was new and I could see areas where it could be presented better. It gave me confidence, people really loved it but I think the pricing wasn’t right.”
We are so pleased to see Cheryl starting to sell her product, after developing Jah Drops since 2016. Before she left we asked if she would recommend taking part in our programmes, she replied “I would most definitely recommend Quickstart and the Christmas Market to other students. What I’ve taken away is valuing and appreciating that the Accelerator team offers to help you with creating your dream service or product for free!”