Charlottesville couple attracts national attention with tea and jam business

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) – Jam According to Daniel and Fairweather Farm Tea share the same workplace: their home in Charlottesville.

On weekends, Daniel and Rachel Perry can be found at farmers markets – the place where they originally met.

“We met at the market,” said Rachel, founder of Fairweather Farm Tea. “We were randomly placed next to each other at the market, I don't know, 10, 11 years ago, and now we're married and making it a little tea and jam duo.”

While Rachel grows herbs and spices in the garden, her husband Daniel makes jam in the kitchen.

“I can be down here wondering, 'How would lemon balm taste with these blueberries?'” said Daniel Perry, creator of Jam According to Daniel. “I just ask [Rachel]If she has something, she brings a bowl. I put it in the jam. Three days later, it's at the farmer's market.”

The two have been working side by side for nearly a decade. After a busy week, Daniel and Rachel sell their specialties at the Ix Farmer's Market and the City Market on the weekend.

“If I had to go to a factory and do the same thing every day, I would be unhappy,” said Daniel. “And I come here and it's always a mystery.”

Daniel says the name of his jam shop was inspired by the 1980s film, The world according to Garp, and Jackie Mason's The world from my perspective.

“It's not like regular jam,” Daniel said. “It's not like jelly. It's not what you'd expect. It's got less sugar, more flavor… It's just the way I like it, the way I want it. And they were like, 'Oh, that's just your opinion.' And I was like, yes, it's jam according to Daniel.”

Only a few weeks ago The Wall Street Journal published an article about Daniel's jam business.

“After the digital version of the article came out, the orders just started pouring in,” Daniel said. “And we processed about two months' worth of orders in a few days.”

Daniel says he owes a lot of his success to his partner Rachel.

“Having this secret weapon of this whole other business and this other person and this partner is really – it’s incredible,” Daniel said.

Both companies started in Charlottesville and plan to stay there.

“We're happy where we are,” Rachel said. “We are. People ask us all the time if we want to grow and we say no. We like our life the way it is.”

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