Dragons Den Winner secures a breakthrough listing with 500 Sainsburys

Twin chefs and restaurateurs, Lisa and Helen Tse from Sweet Mandarin who won Gordon Ramsay’s Best Local Chinese Restaurant on the F Word and appeared on BBC Two's Dragons' Den has said their supermarket deal is a "dream come true" as their three gluten free sauces – barbecue, sweet chilli and sweet & sour hit the shelves at 500 Sainsbury’s in the Free From Aisle.

The initial range of Sweet Mandarin Sauces which are vegan accredited have no gluten, no monosodium glutamate and no artificial colouring cover classic East Asian condiments sweet chilli, sweet & sour and barbecue and were produced as a direct response from customers’ demand for their restaurant’s authentic taste of a true Chinese food experience.
The initial range of gluten free Sweet Mandarin Sauces includes:
• Barbecue – a thick, fruity sauce that evokes memories of heady evenings. Perfect as a dip with prawn crackers and other snacks or as a marinade for meats.
• Sweet Chilli – an exciting concoction of fresh red chillies mixed with garlic and vinegar that tickles the tongue. Perfect for livening up stir-fries, noodles or salads or on the side, as a zingy dip.
• Sweet & Sour – a classic Chinese sauce of contradictory flavours to confuse and delight the taste buds. Use as a dipping sauce with spring rolls and other appetisers or use with meat as a sauce.
Each sauce is hand mixed by Chef Lisa in the Sweet Mandarin kitchen and tells part of the tale of the Tse family history. Using secret recipes passed down through generations, Lisa adds a modern take on the authentic flavours and aromas found in China’s street markets – and used by her mother, grandmother and great grandmother – in every bottle.
Lisa Tse, Managing Director of Sweet Mandarin Sauces said: "We are delighted to be launching our gluten free Chinese dipping sauces through Sainsbury’s, giving us national distribution with a partner who like us, believes food should be at the highest quality. We can't wait to work with Sainsbury's. It is a dream come true for a British manufacturer like us”.
She added ”We are delighted to be supporting Coeliac UK –one in a 100 people suffer from this disease and generally this means they cannot enjoy Chinese cuisine because of the gluten used in the cooking sauces. By offering a range of gluten free sauces, we are able to help dispel the ignorance and misunderstanding surrounding coeliac disease and show how easy it is to provide gluten-free options.”
Keith Black, Sainsbury's senior buyer said the supermarket chain had been hugely impressed with the products.
"The sauces are excellent and are something our customers will want and enjoy. The Sweet Mandarin brand fits perfectly with our ethos to encourage customers to try something new. Working with Helen and Lisa is fun and they have the passion and drive to succeed. We want to help nurture smaller, niche British manufacturers like them and add to the quality offering we have in store. We have worked extremely hard and pulled out all the stops to make their sauces available in stores as quickly as possible,"
In fact, it has taken only weeks from meeting the buyer to getting the Sweet Mandarin sauces on the shelves. The future is sweet for Sweet Mandarin Sauces.
For more information, please contact Lisa and Helen Tse on media@sweetmandarin.com or call 07949 581 828
ENDS

Note to Editors
Estimated at £918 million in 2011, sales in the UK table sauce market have risen by almost 16% since 2006.** Commenting on the sauces Sweet Mandarin CEO Lisa Tse says, “Our consumer is predominantly aged 25-45 and time poor. When developing the range our focus was very much on offering a superior quality, versatile product that enables consumers to recreate truly authentic recipes at home either as a cooking sauce or as a dipping sauce for snacks. Initial feedback has been hugely positive and we look forward to continuing to grow our offer and securing Sweet Mandarin’s position as a brand leader.”
** SOURCE: Mintel/based on SymphonyIRI Group InfoScan
Sweet Mandarin has won a number of awards to date including:
• April 2007 - Grazia Entrepreneur of the Year Awards – Regional Finalist
• June 2008– Winner for Ethnic Minority Businesswoman of the Year – Prowess Award
• November 2009 – Winner of Best Local Chinese Restaurant – Gordon Ramsay’s F Word
• September 2011 and 2012 – Awarded a One Star AA Rosette – the only Chinese restaurant to be awarded this accolade in the North West
• September 2012 – Successful pitch on Dragons Den
• November 2012 – Junior Chamber of Commerce - Finalist Entrepreneur of the Year

Sweet Mandarin Sauces is a gluten free sauce manufacturer based in Manchester. Run by twin sisters, Lisa and Helen Tse, they appeared on Dragons' Den and were successful with their pitch.

Helen Tse
19 Copperas St, Manchester, M4 1HS
Email: helen@sweetmandarin.com
Tel: 07949 581 828

This release was published on openPR.