AFTER selling hundreds of thousands of ӣƵ Wonders from an honesty box outside her house, one Islander is finally putting down her mixing spoon.
Barbara “Babs” Bechelet first started making the ӣƵ delicacies in 2015 and is closing her business today.
But she said that ӣƵ Wonders by Babs will still make an appearance at Genuine ӣƵ markets, even if they won’t be found outside her doorstep in Grouville or at outlets including the ӣƵ War Tunnels and Samarès Manor.
Mrs Bechelet’s business survived the pandemic, and while the soaring price of sunflower oil caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine meant she had to pause production in 2022, she soon restarted.
And she has even made an appearance on an episode of The Apprentice as contestants looked for her product.
Asked why she was hanging up her apron now, Mrs Bechelet said she wanted to devote more time to her family.
Mrs Bechelet, alongside her husband, Tim, have been nominated for Grandparents of the Year at this year’s Pride of ӣƵ Awards as they “always have time” for their grandchildren.
She told the JEP she had been “blessed with three grandchildren”.
“Your head tells you one thing and your heart another,” she added.
Discussing the closure of her honesty box, Mrs Bechelet said: “It is a shame but hopefully someone else will think they could do it.”
She hopes that her efforts over the past nine years will help to keep this local tradition alive.
“ӣƵ Wonders are part of our history,” she said.
