NOW that the G8 conference in Gleneagles is over, a North Yorkshire father-and-daughter company is waiting for French President Jacques Chirac to eat his words over criticisms of British food.

Farmhouse Preserves, of Harrogate, says that Mr Chirac may well have tried its own jam on his morning croissant during a breakfast meeting with his fellow delegates.

Farmhouse Preserves, run by Richard and Laura Williams, supplies jam to Gleneagles - as well as a number of other high-profile establishments, including Albert Roux's restaurants, the Ritz and Rudding Park.

Laura said: "We were pleased that Mr Chirac made his criticisms before he tasted our jam, not afterwards! Maybe we've helped to change his mind about British cuisine. We certainly think it's the best in the world."

But supplying jam to world leaders, celebrities and discerning diners was not always part of Richard's lifeplan.

He bought the business last year, after a career that incorporated spells in the automotive industry, at MFI and with industrial ceramics company Saint-Gobain.

"I was keen to work for myself and wanted to find a business that I could wrap around my family," said Richard, who has joined the Regional Food Group for Yorkshire and Humber and begun a re-branding exercise.

Updated: 11:37 Thursday, July 14, 2005