SuperJam founder Fraser Doherty was the keynote speaker at Junior Achievement’s 30th anniversary celebrations at the Palace Hotel, sponsored by the Capital International Group.

The 23-year-old from Edinburgh set up his jam company aged 14 and now sells to more than 2000 supermarkets in the UK and has plans for expansion into Europe, the US and Canada.

Before the young entrepreneur recounted his ‘kitchen to supermarket’ success story Capital International Group’s CEO and JA board member Anthony Long welcomed guests and praised the Junior Achievement team and volunteers for their work in schools to help equip young people with the entrepreneurial and work readiness skills they will need in a global economy. Mr Long also took the opportunity to congratulate Junior Achievement Isle of Man on becoming one of only 12 countries in Europe to have been accorded model nation status in recognition of its impact locally and contribution to the overall success of the JA-YE Europe network.

Fellow JA board member and Boston Group CEO Greg Ellison echoed Mr Long’s sentiments and spoke of how Junior Achievement was ‘leading through change’, inspiring young people to become financially literate and develop entrepreneurial flair against the background of an increasingly competitive jobs market.

In his opening remarks Fraser Doherty told the audience he was ‘a huge fan’ of Junior Achievement and that he had taken part in the company programme in his not-so-distant school days.

The entrepreneur and now philanthropist then went on to recount ‘The Adventures of Jam Boy’.

A fledgling entrepreneur at the age of 10 he started a chicken farm, preparing a box of eggs for hatching by keeping them warm on the top of the TV. Four eggs hatched but his career as a chicken magnate was cut short – as were the lives of his feathered charges - when a fox ate the chicks.

At 14 his entrepreneurial flair started to ‘bear fruit’ in his grandmother’s kitchen where he used her recipes to make jam. After selling his product at local farmers’ markets and delicatessens and driven by ‘a vague ambition to transform the world of jam’ he developed a method of producing ‘healthy’ jam 100 per cent from fruit with no added sugar. SuperJam was born and he went from making door-to-door deliveries to neighbours to supplying Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Waitrose and other major supermarkets across the UK.

He’s had dinner with former prime minister Gordon Brown, made it to the 2011 Times Young Power list, was holder of the Outstanding Young Person of the World award in 2007 and his product is exhibited in the National Museum of Scotland as an example of an ‘iconic Scottish Food Brand’. SuperJam has produced the first iPhone jam app, he’s written two books and now his company is investing in ‘SuperJam Tea Parties’, bringing elderly people together in community groups with live music, dancing and, unsurprisingly, scones and SuperJam.

Fraser, who left school at 16, said the best help he had had was having someone guide him when he was setting up his business and he praised Junior Achievement’s strategy of using volunteer business advisers in schools to give aspiring entrepreneurs an insight into the real world of business.

Inspired by smoothie manufacturer Innocent and ice cream company Ben and Jerry’s he attributed his success to a work ethic based on ‘loving what you do’, adding that ‘good ideas don’t have to reinvent the world’ and in closing confided to his audience that his grandmother remained, as yet, blissfully unaware of her intellectual property rights.

The evening also provided an opportunity for the 2012 Junior Achievement Company of the Year winners, Rejuven8 from Ballakermeen High School, to outline the process that led them to win the title in March this year and saw them go on to represent the Isle of Man in the JA-YE Europe Company of the Year competition in Bucharest in July.

Junior Achievement must raise more than ?300,000 every year to deliver its programmes in primary and secondary schools across the Isle of Man that will help young people gain the essential skills they will need when they leave full-time education. To find out more contact Sue Cook, suecook@jaiom.im or visit www.jaiom.im. You can also follow the team on Facebook on their page: Junior Achievement Isle of Man.

Photo caption - SuperJam founder Fraser Doherty. Picture Andrew Barton.