Delia's blessing, with a pinch of salt

Delia's tips can turn products into 'must haves'

A family firm from north Wales producing table salt is braced for a deluge of orders after getting a recommendation from cooking legend Delia Smith.

The Sea Salt Company received a postcard from Delia saying she enjoys their product and will be recommending it on her web site.

But the firm's four workers in Anglesey, north Wales, are not quite ready for the demand her endorsement has traditionally brought.

Co-owner David Lea-Wilson said: "We are a just a small company of four people - myself, my partner and two others."

Delia's culinary endorsements have in the past created massive demand for cranberries, omelette pans, stock and glucose.

We can't take any more orders until we get planning permission to enlarge our business premises

David Lea-Wilson, Sea Salt Company

Supermarkets, shopkeepers and manufacturers have sometimes struggled to meet the surge in demand that a word from Delia sparks.

"Delia's recommendation is a boost to our expansion plans and we hope it will help us employ many more people on the island in future," Mr Lea-Wilson said.

"But we can't take any more orders until we get planning permission to enlarge our business premises.

The salt - which is sold in a network of delicatessens around Britain - does not contain the chemicals added to ordinary sea salt.

Its quality has been put down to the Atlantic waters which surround the island.

Mr Lea-Wilson said the importance of salt in the body had been overlooked in recent years.

"The body needs salt.

"Research shows it actually helps conveys electrical currents from one part of the brain to the other," he added.