Jam Wizard Founder Karan’s journey spans both time and geography.

Old World Meets New World

Karan's family has a long tradition of jam and jelly making. Her German ancestry includes a Great-Great Grandmother who was re-known for her canning and preserving skills in the old world before arriving in America. Those jam alchemy skills and knowledge were handed down to Karan's Great Grandma who in turn shared decades of jam making with her mother.

Childhood Passion Preserving

By the time Karan turned 8 years old, she fell in love with jam making. As an apprentice, she grabbed some peaches from the family backyard tree. Her mom passionately showed Karan how to make her first jam in the 1950s. Karan was instantly hooked on the jam making hobby.

The Wizard's Journey Begins

In the 1960s, Karan moved into the coal regions of Pennsylvania. This area is a hot bed of jam and jelly making similar to the deep south as well as Texas and parts of the mid west. While living in Pennsylvania, Karan began studying these skilled coal region jam makers. Imagine having decades of knowledge, skills, and experience being thrusted into your head, heart, and hands instantly. By the 1970s, she moved to the Panama Canal Zone. It was here in South America were she got exposed to exotic fruit jam making. Fruit jams like bananas and coconuts were easy to make. It was the experience with durian, jackfruit, dragon fruit and others were she really excelled. Stacking North American jam making with South American was an unreal experience in those days.

Jams are like "Fine Wines"

Returning to the USA in the 1980s through 2000s meant exploring jam making from a new perspective. She saw jams as a "fine wine" Jam tastes should pop in your mouth. She became obsessed with stacking old world and new world.

Old World Meets New World

Karen became a teacher, educator, and nutritionist. She studied the latest in modern nutrition standards, health, wellness guidelines and of course innovating with jams, jellies, spreads, and marmalades. She became one of the first people to experimented with early superfoods in jams way before the internet made it popular. Her cabinets were filled with the newest sugar and sugar substitutes like monk fruit, date sugar or coconut sugars in the early 1990s. She spent time in West Texas which is the watermelon and cantaloupe capital of the world. This meant smashing jam flavors like cactus with watermelon to create new flavors never experienced before.

The Journey Doesn't End Here

As the great wizard Gandalf once said, "All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us". Today, you can experience something special.

What began as family tradition decades in the making has evolved into a modern approach to crafting jams and jellies. Imagine a jam that celebrates bold flavors, intense textures, and maximum tastes learned from decades of knowledge, skills, and expereince.

Heritage Techniques. Modern Superfoods.

It is a thoughtful approach to innovating in a food space where our competitors have stopped.

Go beyond toast and try our jams and jellies as a glaze on meat.

Experience a superfood jam on ice cream or yogurt.

Try mixing our jellies in your tea to sooth your sore throat.

Imagine creating a mocktail with a jam

Today, Jam Wizard continues the legacy and tradition with her children and grand children. Now at 6 generations of jam makers in training.

From local farmers markets to regional retailers, our journey is deeply connected to the communities that support small producers, creative food makers, and local agriculture.

We are honored to be recognized as part of Utah’s Own, a program that celebrates products made right here in the state.

Supporting local communities and sharing great food experiences remains at the heart of everything we do.