Kent Women in Business Award nomination for Goudhurst mum and inventor of healthy ketchup Wonderchup

A mum-of-two who launched her own healthy ketchup brand after inventing the sauce for her children has been nominated for a business award.

Élise Daly made her first batch of the low-salt, low-sugar condiment for her family back in 2014.

They adored it so much they suggested she bring it to other people’s dinner tables too.

That dream became a reality last January, when she and husband Karl, 54, began selling it under the name Wonderchup.

The 43-year-old, of North Road, Goudhurst, said: “The motivation for making ketchup was not just about trying something new.

“It was also because we have good reason to eat as healthily as possible in our family.”

Mrs Daly had a bad dose of flu when she was 16 which caused lasting damage - she is currently on her fifth pacemaker - and her 11-year-old son Jules has a hole in his heart.

“I’m just a mum trying to look after her kids,” she added. Health and nutrition go hand in hand so I have tried to teach them about that.”

The first sauce she made, for a summer barbecue, included high vitamin C Isle of Wight tomatoes, which get their nutrient richness from growing in the sunniest spots in the UK, along with roasted peppers for sweetness, fennel, garlic, onion, rosemary, and olive oil.

Wonderchup has 5g of sugar and 0.1g of salt per 100g of sauce, compared to 22.8g of sugar and 1.8g of salt in leading brand, Heinz.

"I promised my children I would look into selling it and realised we could do it in a way that was super fun and not in a preachy way,” she said. It is now being stocked by more than 20 shops shops across Kent, London, Surrey, and Sussex, RRP £3.95, as well as online, on Amazon.

It has also been adopted by St Ronan’s School in Water Lane, Hawkhurst and Élise has even had interest from customers in the US, South America, Finland, Australia and China.

She is nominated for entrepreneur of the year while Wonderchup is up for best innovation at the Kent Women In Business Awards, to be held on March 8 at a ceremony in Maidstone’s Great Danes Hotel.