FERGUS – As the old saying goes, when life gives you lemons make lemonade. In the case of Maritimer turned Fergus resident Jill Fisher, she’s turned lemons into a low profile local business using a centuries-old family drink recipe.
Fisher is the founder of Lighthouse Lemonade, a brand of bottled lemon cordial with an East Coast flair.
It’s not a straight-from-the-bottle kind of drink. A cordial is basically a syrup with a fruit base, Fisher said in an interview at Lighthouse Lemonade’s small production plant near Fergus. Traditionally it is mixed with water to make lemonade.
Another name for it is squash or concentrate.
She doesn’t believe there’s much else like it on the market as most cordials are aimed at the bar sector.
While the business started in 2009, the cordial recipe can be traced back generations although the exact origin is unknown. Fisher said it goes back to at least pre-confederation Canada.
It may even have ties to confederation, as Fisher is a direct descendant of Charles Fisher, one of the fathers of confederation.
Family lore has it, Charles Fisher hosted Sir John A. Macdonald, before he was prime minister, and his wife when confederation talks were happening.
“How it goes is they served him the family lemonade,” Fisher said. “We laugh and think Sir John A. was probably mixing it with gin.”
Regardless of its origins and mythology, Fisher grew up drinking it and making it with her family in New Brunswick along the Northumberland Strait.
A graduate of Stratford Chefs School, Fisher had been working in various kitchens when, in 2009, she was thinking of a way to pivot her career.
“I had four children at the time, that’s a tough world for a mom with kids,” Fisher said, later joking she probably puts in more hours now then she did at the time.
Wanting to remain in the food industry, Fisher served the family recipe to a couple of chef friends.
“They tried it and looked at me and said ‘so what are you going to do with this?’” Fisher said. “It was a good affirmation that it wasn’t just me and others who have said it was terrific but having some people in the food industry like it was the shot in the arm that it might be worth moving ahead with.”
She started the business in the Guelph-area and moved production around to various commercial kitchens for many years before realizing a space to grow and get rid of the need to move heavy machines in and out of spaces.
This brought her to Fergus in March 2017, moving production to a small solar-powered facility at a farm close to town. She joined her business, moving to Fergus to live there six months later.
During a production period, Fisher and a small team of employees will squeeze more than 700 kg of lemons resulting in about 2,000 bottles.
Her employees, who she playfully calls lemoners, have always been made up of students, which is something Fisher takes pride in.
“We like to get kids who have never worked before, it’s a nice way to get mentored into the business world without letting it take over their lives,” Fisher said, referencing how production levels are based on demand, peaking in the summer.
Fisher keeps a relatively low profile in Fergus and believes not a lot of people are aware Lighthouse Lemonade is a local product. The plant is strictly for production only and shipped out to large-chain and independent grocery stores across Ontario and into the east coast.
She still enjoys drinking the family recipe to this day.
“I had a really long bike ride on Sunday and got really overheated and had a couple of glasses when I came in,” Fisher said. “When you’re hot, I don’t think there’s anything more thirst quenching than this.”