Local Purveyor Spotlight: Butcher’s Bunches

Have you ever met or began a relationship with someone via cyberspace (i.e. e-mail or text) that is just so enthusiastic and passionate that when you actually meet him or her in person, you can’t help but want to offer a huge hug? The people that you can feel the love from, even though you’re simply reading their text through the screen. That is exactly how I felt about Liz Butcher, owner and creator of Butcher’s Bunches, an all natural jam purveyor based out of Logan.

Butcher's Bunches Utah

Liz Butcher

Back in 2010 when Liz was growing and selling her own produce to the Cache Valley Gardener’s Market, it was then that she had an idea that would support other local growers as well as create a way to provide for her son Kenneth’s future needs. She started making making all-natural jam with no added sugar or artificial ingredients. Once people tried her jam, they took to it, considering it just tasted so natural like fruit and not sugar, and that’s when things started to take off. A few weeks in, Matt Caputo of Tony Caputo’s specialty market in Salt Lake City bought 40 cases. Back then, that was a lot of jam for them to make. Eight weeks after that, Liz was contacted by a Sundance Film Festival representative who ordered 300 jars for their swag bags that are given to celebrities. Within two months, Butcher’s Bunches was in all the Harmon’s stores and all the ski resorts in Utah, starting with Deer Valley.

After much success, the jam is now made in a commercial kitchen at Bridgerland Applied Technology College, but the business is still based in the Butchers’ home in Logan. A spare bedroom serves as office and storeroom. Orders are packaged and shipped from the living room. Nowadays, it is hard to miss at the grocery stores, and once you pass by them and look at their flavors, it is extremely difficult not to pick up few jars. The flavors are unique, innovative and just downright creative. Kenneth, who loves music, comes up with most of the names of the jams as many of them have a fun, musical reference. Here are some examples of some of the flavors:

Butcher's Bunches Utah

Ciao This! – A rich blend of aged balsamic, Deglet Noor dates, figs, berries and a touch of other local produce, this jam is fantastic on anything you eat. The Butcher’s Bunch loves it with Snowy Mountain Creamery’s Ricotta, atop a cracker with buratta, or on a salami sandwich

Butchers Bunches Utah

Dirty Diana -tart Montmorency cherries from Brigham City (Woodyatt Farms) soaked in passion fruit rum, and then pulsed into small pieces. While cooking citrus juice is added, a bit of sea salt and special spices just prior to setting to make a tart and tangy fruit spread. The lack of added sugar (or substitutes) emphasizes the wonderful flavor of these cherries that are normally uses for pies.

Butcher's Bunches Utah

Sun Beam – Following the theme of highlighting Utah businesses they have chosen to spotlight Park City’s High West Distillery and create an authentic Irish Whisky Marmalade, Utah style! Using fresh organic oranges from Arizona (they have run out of quality fruit that grows here in the quantity needed) they are using a traditional marmalade recipe and just enough Bourye from High West to kick it up a few hundred notches. They also use a dark Muscavado sugar to sweeten things up and give it the flavor of molasses. Sweet, snappy, tangy, chunky and sassy, just what you need to wake you up in the morning.

Click here to view all of their amazing flavors, including Get Your Guav On, Bananas for Chocolate, Mint Lemonade, Berrylicious, Ramblin’ Raspberry and more. It doesn’t stop at just the jam. They also make fantastic drizzles such as fresh fruit balsamic reduction, made from Modena balsamic, black raspberries and strawberries, as well as balsamic “Jammy” made from balsamic, dates, figs, black raspberries, strawberries, and hint of red onion. The uses are endless for both of these products, literally for every meal or snack of the day. Drizzle over asparagus, cheesecake, ice cream, a strawberry, your finger, anything.

Butcher's Bunches Utah

Butcher's Bunches Utah

Butcher's Bunches Utah

The Butcher Bunch! L to R: Rocco, Alycia, Kenneth, and Liz Butcher

(Click here to read more about Kenneth’s amazing story.)

Such a fantastic product made by truly wonderful people. Make sure you check out Liz and Kenneth’s whole story by clicking the link above and keep an eye out for their jam. I usually pick mine up at The Market.

Thank you to Mark Benson of Tenatious Lens Photography, Niki Chan Photography and Gina Beth Baker of Akoma Photography for the photos.

 

Posted in

dishing

Leave a Comment

You must be logged in to post a comment.