A WOMAN who started her food business in the kitchen of her County Durham home is now seeing her products stocked in two of the UK’s most well-respected culinary retailers.

Kairen Dods’ business Butter- Fingers, which makes a range of flavoured butters, has taken the culinary world by storm in its first year of trading, securing deals with a number of farm shops and North Yorkshire fine food retailer Lewis and Cooper.

Now, as it prepares to celebrate its first year in business next month, the company, based in Shildon, has struck deals with exclusive London stores Fortnum and Mason – food retailer to the Queen – and Harvey Nichols.

The product, which Ms Dods first devised while hosting a dinner party for friends at her home in Heighington, near Darlington, has also been hailed as “very useful idea” by esteemed food critic Charles Campion.

Butter-Fingers is now eyeing expansion beyond its base on Shildon’s Dabble Duck Estate and is looking to take on more staff as its growth continues.

Ms Dods said she is delighted with the growth of the business, which she started after being persuaded by friends.

“The success has been unprecedented, despite the fact consumers are spending less at the moment, so the time is right to take the products to a wider audience,” she said.

“I was born in Singapore and brought up in an environment of exotic tastes and blends of flavours, and drew on international inspiration for my Butter-Fingers range.

“The product is a great way to discover how easy it is to dish out delicious meals in more diverse ways, giving you a professional finish.”

Ms Dods’ original range of butters – all handmade and using locally-sourced herbs – centred on a savoury range, which included sun-dried tomato and basil and mixed milled peppercorns and sea salt.

Since then, Ms Dods has expanded to create a range of sweet butters, including sweet citrus lemon butter, fragrant ginger and zesty lime, which she believes has fuelled the growth of her company.

“The sweet butters are a total success on flavour, and have been snapped up by existing and new Butter- Fingers stockists as something totally unique,” she said. Among future plans is a seasonal range, which would include flavours such as cinnamon, being considered for Christmas.