Six Years of Big Bear Farms: Our Birthday Sale Is Here

Big Bear Farms turns six this September, and from the 15th to the 21st we're running our birthday sale storewide. Before the offers go live, this felt like the right moment to look back at six years of small batches: what's actually kept people coming back, and everything else in the range worth trying if you've only ever bought the toffee (fair, it's the one everyone starts with).

Six Years, One Himachal Kitchen

The short version: an orchard in Raison, in the Kullu valley, farmed by the same family for four generations, and a kitchen run by Jaya, Veer and Nikita that turned a home tradition into a company in 2020. Six years later, the batches are still small, the fruit still comes from the same hills, and the recipe is still the same three ingredients it always was: twice the fruit, half the sugar, and a splash of lime juice. We've written more about that process, and the family behind it, in a separate post if you want the fuller story.

What's Actually Sold the Most

Six years in, a fairly clear picture has formed of what people keep reordering. A few stand out well ahead of the rest.

• Bottled Peaches. Consistently our best-selling single item, and probably the least talked-about. Real peach, lightly preserved in syrup, ready long after the season's ended.
  
  
• Strawberry Jam. The one most people start with, and the one that keeps them coming back. Three ingredients, visible fruit, nothing else in the jar.
  
  
• Three Citrus Marmalade. Not the obvious bestseller on paper (marmalade has an image problem in India), but it's one of our most reordered products, year after year.
  
  
• Lemon Curd. The one people are surprised to love. Richer than a jam, closer to a custard, and genuinely one of our top sellers rather than a niche pick.
  
  
• Buttery Caramel Toffee. Our most-reviewed product by a wide margin, and the one most gift boxes are built around. If you've tried exactly one thing from us, it's probably this.

Just behind that group: Apricot Jam, Plum Jam, Blueberry Preserve, Cherry Preserve and Peach Marmalade all have loyal repeat buyers of their own, even if they don't top the list outright.

Beyond the Bestsellers

The bestseller list only tells part of the story. Six years also means the range has grown well past jam and toffee, and a decent chunk of it doesn't get nearly enough attention.

• Pickles and chutneys. Lemon, tomato, apple, a mixed vegetable achar, and Lingdi, a wild Himalayan fern that only a handful of brands in the country even attempt.
  
  
• Honey. Three single-origin varieties from the surrounding hills: Wildflower, Chestnut Blossom and Thyme, each genuinely different from the others rather than three versions of the same jar.
  
  
• Himalayan Hot Sauce. Built around bhut jolokia and bird's eye chilli, for anyone who's decided the toffee and jam side of the range is a little too gentle.
  
  
• Confectionery and dessert spreads. Salted Caramel and Lemon Curd both live here, alongside the toffees, for anyone building a proper dessert table rather than just a breakfast spread.

The Birthday Sale, 15 to 21 September

The sale itself runs storewide for the week, across jams, toffees, pickles, honey and everything above. It's the one week a year we'd actually recommend stocking up rather than buying one jar at a time, particularly if you've been meaning to try something outside your usual order. Full offer details will be live on the site from the 15th.

The Short Version

Six years, one kitchen, and a bestseller list that's more interesting than it looks on paper (a bottled peach outselling the toffee is not what most people would guess). If it's been a while since you tried anything beyond your usual order, the birthday sale week is a fair excuse to do it.

Browse everything at the birthday sale collection, or start with the story of how we got here on our About Us page.