Home jam recipe now business venture

Published 5:00 pm Monday, July 31, 2006

The homemade jams D. Sean Burns used to give to family and friends as holiday gifts have turned into a business venture for the Columbia City man.

In June, Burns, an animator who formerly worked for Will Vinton Studios in Portland, started Good Daddy Jams. From the state-licensed kitchen at his home, Burns makes 10 varieties of jams – all with 100 percent natural ingredients (no corn syrup). Most of the berries and fruits used in his jams are grown in Columbia County or on Sauvie Island, with the exception of the mangos, which he uses in one of his jams.

Burns said he got into jam-making as a hobby about six or seven years ago. And his recipe proved to be a hit with everyone who tried it.

Deciding that it was time for a career change, Burns recently returned to college to pursue a master’s degree in business. With an interest in eventually pursuing a career in agriculture, Burns said he decided that developing his own line of jams was the best way to test the agricultural business first-hand.

Currently, Good Daddy Jams are sold exclusively at the Scappoose Saturday Market, where Burns operates a stall. Soon, he hopes to have his own Web site up and running, where customers can order his jams. In the meantime, contact him at SEANB555@yahoo.com.

As for the brand name, Burns said it was his wife’s idea, after hearing the couple’s kids rave about their dad’s jams.

“The kids were always saying, ‘This is good, Daddy.’ The name came kind of naturally.”