Interview with Fiyah Jelly

Lisa & Bryan

Fiyah Jelly, a product of L & B Delights, LLC, made it's first indie craft show debut at Odd Duck Bazaar 2014 in Downtown Hollywood. Not only did the first 100 guests at the show receive a free take home jar of this deliciousness, but hundreds of others sampled this specialty throughout both days of the event. We observed the purchases and heard the praises from countless shoppers about this new and tasty treat! Then we watched this nearly happen all over again at the Hollywood Holiday Market in December. We are thrilled to let you know, they will be joining us again for the full weekend at the next Odd Duck Bazaar on April 11th & 12th, 2015 - so no worries, you WILL be able to get your hands on those fresh jars of Fiyah Jelly! Lisa Foster and Bryan Adeline are the duo behind this fascinating stuff and we were recently lucky enough to get a few Q & A with Bryan.

How is Fiyah Jelly made? We have revised and perfected a generations old family recipe for Jamaican Scotch Bonnet Pepper Jelly. We use only fresh, non-GMO ingredients with no additives, preservatives, colorings, flavorings of any sort. 5 real ingredients brewed up in our own process.

Yummy samples!

How did you get started selling Fiyah Jelly? L&B stands for Lisa and Bryan. Soon after we got together, Lisa wanted to do something special for me. I do a lot of cooking and I like spicy so she wanted to show what she could do in the kitchen too. Although she's lived in south Florida since she was about 5, Lisa was born in Jamaica where her family is from going back many generations. Her taste still is very fond of those Jamaican flavors, and since I love spicy, she decided to make this recipe she learned from her mom: a Scotch Bonnet Pepper Jelly. So I thought it was an interesting idea even though I'd never had a pepper jelly I liked. And working with the Scotchies I knew it would be hotter than anything I'd had before. She went for it and served it up to me on a cracker with a little cream cheese, just like we do at Odd Duck. First taste was really delicious, sweet and fruity. I started to ask where was the heat and then, KAPLOW!!! Unbelievable sensation but most importantly, the flavor was still there. It wasn't blown out by the heat. First thing I yelled "YAMON, DIS FIYAH JELLY IS HOT!!!" Then I said "and THAT'S what we'll call it when we bottle it up and sell it to the world!" We're still working on the world part, but we ARE selling it as Fiyah Jelly.

Do you ever come across anyone who doesn't like the stuff? Some folks really want a milder version. But that kind of defeats the point of Fiyah Jelly. It's not for the light-tastebudded.

Hollywood Holiday Market 2014

Do you enjoy being a vendor or is it a challenge for you to be front & center with buyers? Neither of us had ever done any public sales like this before. Odd Duck 2014 was literally the first time we'd ever done it. We didn't really know what to expect but it was a total blast. I'm a pretty gregarious guy once I get going. I'm used to being in front of decent sized crowds, occasionally for the purpose of being silly or performing. In this case, I'm trying to attract people to something I really believe is a great thing that they should check out. Fairly quickly I found myself acting like a carnival barker pulling folks in to try out Fiyah Jelly who would otherwise have just continued walking past. My attitude is that we're there to sell. They are there to see what is out there and hopefully to buy it. We don't have any name recognition to speak of yet, and there's nothing else like it on the market. So it's my job to get their attention so they can try it and then decide if they want some to take home. If I can get a smile out of folks in the process, get them to come over, and give it a try, about 80% of the time, they end up buying a jar. So yes, it was a lot of fun and it resulted in wildly successful sales.

What are your goals with Fiyah Jelly? Short term is to continue to grow Fiyah Jelly as product and hopefully get it into a big market. We're looking at Trader Joe's and Whole Foods. We think Fiyah Jelly could sell worldwide. The kind of heat we have is growing in popularity in the US but it's already common in most of the rest of the world. But the flavor of Fiyah Jelly isn't common anywhere except in the homes of folks who have bought some. We hope that changes.

What is one thing we might be surprised to learn about you? Lisa is an accomplished licensed massage therapist for 16+ years and no one would know when I'm out there doing my Fiyah Jelly thing, but I'm a practicing attorney and former College US History instructor.

Now, if you really can't wait until April 11th or 12th for the next Odd Duck Bazaar to get your supply of Fiyah Jelly, you can order online at their website: fiyahjelly.com.