SHOPPERS in some of New York's top stores can get a taste of the Yorkshire Dales, thanks to a thriving cottage industry not far from Masham.

It is not only the town's Theakstons and Black Sheep bitter which have been making a name for themselves around the globe; Elspeth Biltoft and Rosebud Preserves are hot on their heels.

Mint jelly, made to a recipe handed down the generations, can now be found on the shelves at Macy's.

And even the top delicatessen of the metropolis, Dean and Deluca's, stocks the same product with its reputation beginning to spread on the west coast of the US.

Rosebud began exporting a decade ago, but it was only when the packaging was redesigned that the Pacific states began to take notice.

"It's the same corporate colours with green on black lettering, but I've had such a good response to it since we changed it in October,'' said Elspeth.

"What I'm most interested in is what's in the jar, but you can't tell customers about that unless you tempt them with what is on the outside,'' she said.