Young Food & Drink Entrepreneur of the Year Announced

The title was awarded to Jerome Jacob and his brand PHROOTI, a range of fruit teas boasting 95-97 per cent real fruit, after being chosen winner by an audience at Speciality & Fine Food Fair.

Runner up in the competition was Cool Coffee, a brand of cold-press coffee founded by Joseph Devereux-Kelly.

As winner, Jerome Jacob will receive a year of mentoring from Paul Hargreaves, chief executive of Cotswold Fayre, £1000 and marketing and branding support.

Jerome Jacob, founder of PHROOTI said, “With the financial support I’ve won I plan to do a full nutritional analysis of the product and take it to market. In the next twelve months I shall be pitching to get listings and arranging the funds to expand, and taking on the fruit tea market… I hope to have a stand at Speciality & Fine Food Fair next year!”

Paul Hargreaves, chief executive of Cotswold Fayre said, “The most passionate person won, although both brands are saleable within the sector. Jerome’s passion is second to none and he seems to have done a very good job of organising a supply chain and selling to consumers; the next step is to strengthen the design so that it sells from a retail shelf as well as online.”