Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael and Linda Gant.
Hi Michael and Linda, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My name is Michael and my bride
is Linda and we are Gant Family Delights! Finding myself frustrated after being layed off for the third time in 20 years, my family and I moved to San Antonio with hopes of a fresh start. Little did I know how welcomed we would be.
I originally started making gourmet chocolates but found myself struggling to find the chocolate I needed. So I asked my bride to make my leftover fruits and jalapeños into jams. After several different evolutions of our business we decided to focus strictly on our jam business.
Our jam line is “This ain’t your mama’s jam”! We like to say that because we want to change people’s perspective on how jams can be used.. We encourage people to think beyond toast, bagels, and cream cheese. We offer a unique
selection of ever evolving flavors!
Our original jam was Strawberry Jalapeño which I like to use to glaze chicken. But our number one seller is our Strawberry Basil, which if mixed to taste with balsamic vinegar is used as a salad dressing! Our Pineapple Mango Jalapeño makes a great glaze on pork ribs. We like to say that with our jams you are only limited by your imagination!
Because we make our jams in our home kitchen we are under cottage law and do not have a store front. We often share our jams in and around San Antonio at local markets and events. We have been as far north as Brady TX for the “Great Goat Cookoff” and to the south, Rockport TX for the “Rockport Market Days”! We also encourage people to visit our website www.gfdjams.com to see our available flavors and order our jams to share with their friends and family around Texas.
Our hope is to one day be in a commercial kitchen so you will be able to find our jams in your local mom and pop stores.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
As small business owners we have had to pivot several times. In 2016 we originally created unique gourmet chocolates and we were blessed by a program we participated in called Breakfast and Launch. They introduced us to a restaurant owner who gave us space in his commercial kitchen to create our confections after they closed. He literally handed me a set of keys and told me to lock up when we finished! Unfortunately this was short lived because the city decided to pull his lease four months later. Without the money to rent a commercial kitchen we had to reevaluate our situation. We bounced around for a while trying to find space we could afford without success.
Since my chocolates used both strawberries and jalapeños I asked my bride if she could make a jam using them. Of course she said “No”! But after some soul searching (me begging) and a lot of googling, she made our first batch of strawberry jalapeño jam! So initaially we did both chocolates and jams but pivoted to gourmet Jams full time since it wasn’t necessary for us to have a commercial kitchen and the shelf life of jam was a lot longer than chocolates.
We enjoyed doing markets around San Antonio but felt there was something missing. At the time there were only flee markets and farmers markets. We wanted to offer a different option for both vendors and customers so in 2017 we created what we believe was the first artisan market called “StoneOak Artisan market”! Which due to the construction that set in four months later on 281 then moved and became “Bandera Point Artisan Market!
We stepped away from the chocolates and jams and spent the next three years acquiring and building our market space. We were poised in 2020 to finally reach the next level of success to really put us in profit mode! But then covid changed everything! We had no idea what was going to happen and we didn’t have the resources to pay for an empty parking lot month after month. So we passed the market onto a vendor who could.
This was devastating and it took me some time to pull myself back together but with the support of my bride we decided in 2021 to focus solely on our gourmet jams! And Gant Family Delights – ” This ain’t your mama’s jam!” was born!
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
We enjoy creating unique gourmet flavors that enhance your meals. Our slogan is “This ain’t your mama’s jam!” We say this because we want you to think outside the box and beyond just breakfast! We encourage our customers to use our jams for lunch and dinner as glazes, salad dressing and much much more! We like to say that with our jams you are only limited by your imagination!
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
We hope to eventually get into a commercial kitchen so that we can share our unique flavors in and around San Antonio and beyond!
Pricing:
- Strawberry Jalapeño $10
- Pineapple Mango Jalapeño $10
- Strawberry Basil $10
- Pineapple Mango $10
- Jalapeño $10
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Www.gfdjams.com
- Instagram: Gant_family_delights
- Facebook: @gantfamilydelights
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@gantfamilydelights?si=FtZ2QDnt9Png-TTH
