History Timeline
First World War
In France, sugar was in very limited supply so people would use grape ‘must’, a by-product of wine making, as an alternative sweetener. One winemaker, Monsieur Dalfour, passed their grape must recipe down through the generations and even shared it with one of their neighbours, Madame Kistner. She used the grape must to make fruit spreads and even named them in honour of Monsieur Dalfour, calling him a Saint for such a fantastic recipe.
Stock Image
1984
Brand launches
Mr Kistner was approached by his lifelong friend Norton Cooper who suggested that fruit spread made with grape must would make an excellent alternative to traditional jam and that there could be some good potential to sell it to consumers.
1988
Tate family launch the brand in the UK
Norton Cooper approached the Tate family for their advice and expertise of the fruit spread market. The Tate family realised what a great product Norton Cooper had and agreed to help bring the product to market. St. Dalfour fruit spread is born.
Factory opening
After years of development and research, St. Dalfour opens its first factory near Marmande, France.
1992
Packaging recognised for a design award
1993
First listing secured in the Independent Health Food Trade
Due to its lack of cane sugar, St. Dalfour had huge interest from health stores wanting to stock the fruit spreads. In 1993, the spreads started hitting the shelves.
1995
Listings with all the major UK supermarkets obtained
It didn’t take long for the brand to expand to UK Supermarkets. In 1995 at the BBC good food show, the Tate family showed the attendees that the Jam market was lacking innovation and all it took to reinvigorate people’s love of fruit spreads was some French tradition. Soon St. Dalfour was stocked in every major UK supermarket.
2003
Two honey lines added
Fitting with their mission to offer breakfast spreads without any cane sugar, St. Dalfour launched a line of delicious honeys.
2008
Flavours increased to 16
In a busy year for the St. Dalfour development team, an extra 7 flavours are added to the range, including kumquat – yum!
2010
Gifts introduced
To spread the joy of St Dalfour to their friends, people started asking for giftpacks. St. Dalfour launched a tasty set of miniatures in response.
2016
The Factory expanded to store frozen fruits in state of the art facilities. The production space now spans a whopping 1500sqm.
The cutting edge facility is still based in Marmande.
Present day
St. Dalfour is sold in over 80 countries. The newest flavour is Gourmet Chestnut, but new flavours are created in our kitchens all the time; sometimes the ideas come directly from our customers.
