Jodie Huggins is a Director of The Norwich Porridge Company, an award-winning ‘Great Taste’ producer which has a pop-up stall on Norwich Market until December 24. Here, she explains how she joined the team during lockdown and has become the ‘beating heart of Norwich Porridge ever since!
In a nutshell, we make porridge in Norwich! Norwich Porridge was an idea born between two friends who were training for a marathon. As porridge was a staple training food, they ate a lot of it and knew that they could do better. The idea of Norwich Porridge was born and between them they came up with their first recipes and went to market. Now, several years later we’re proud to have five flavours and several Great Taste awards under our belt.
Our porridge is handmade and lovingly made here in Norwich using only the finest natural ingredients. We remain a small independent business with big hopes and dreams for the future – to grow our online business and see our porridge on more and more supermarket shelves. We’re always thinking about future flavour combinations and new ideas.
I’ve been working with Norwich Porridge since 2020 and am super proud of how far we’ve come. I joined the team during lockdown to help with production process, customer orders and communications and generally getting our brand known! My background in marketing, project management and customer service has shaped me to take on a pivotal role in the business.
I oversee all areas of business operation across production all the way through to delivery, and am often referred to as the ‘Beating Heart of Norwich Porridge’ by my colleagues as I am so passionate and proud of the business we have built. During food events you’ll usually find me manning our porridge stand chatting to customers and gathering valuable insight into what people love about our brand and how we can do even better.
Our porridge is made with only the best natural ingredients. Each bag is bursting with gorgeous ingredients giving pure, honest energy. There are no nasties or added sugar – just natural goodness. We’re really proud to have won multiple Great Taste Awards for our Grain and 5 seed, Cranberry and Pistachio and Apple Strudel. We’ve built a really lovely community of loyal customers who tell us that Norwich Porridge is 100% the best porridge they’ve ever tasted.
We’re expanding our range all the time and this year launched a handmade Norwich Porridge soap which is simply beautiful – full of nourishing Norwich Porridge oats and a hint of orange and cinnamon, it’s a gorgeous product which cleanses and gently exfoliates. Another highlight this year was when the Guardian’s Sali Hughes posted a video to Instagram describing Norwich Porridge Grain and Seed as being 10/10.
Hearing any of our customers tell us our porridge is the best is a wonderful feeling. My hopes and dreams for the business are that we can keep evolving our product range; expand our reach into cafes, shops and supermarkets; make Norwich Porridge a household name and continue making a product that makes people happy and nourished. The to do list just keeps growing but I think the future for Norwich Porridge is bright.
You can buy Norwich Porridge online or through one or our many lovely stockists including Jarrolds. We also have a pop up on Norwich Market until Christmas Eve so come and say hi!
Visit Norwich Porridge. The Norwich Market pop-up can be found at Stall 13, opposite Brick Pizza.
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