A luxury confectionary company based in Melbourne, Bramble & Hedge strive to source the finest ingredients both locally and from around the world.

With a mission to create and produce the most delicious confectionary possible, founder Hayley has put her own spin on the traditional nougat.

Passionate to create something beautiful and delicious, Bramble & Hedge confectionary is both delicious and visually stunning.

We caught up with Hayley to learn more.

Who are the team behind Bramble & Hedge and what made you launch?

Me, myself and I are the team behind Bramble & Hedge. I have a wonderful Mum who ties all the bows and tags onto the nougat. I also have casuals at christmas time which is our busiest time of year. I launched Bramble & Hedge after moving back to Australia from overseas. I had always wanted to have my own business where I could be creative but didn’t know what I wanted to create, after many experiments I came across a recipe for nougat in one of my hundreds of recipe books. I have always loved traditional nougat myself but wanted put my own twist on it.

Previously known as Sweet Boutique Nougat, what inspired the move to Bramble & Hedge and what has changed?

I just thought I needed a stronger name than The Sweet Boutique and I believe Bramble & Hedge is. Also Bramble & Hedge conjures up images for me of the country and nature – brambles covered with lovely sweet blackberries and raspberries.

What does a day in the life of the Bramble & Hedge team look like?

I am up at 6am and I go for a walk or run. I have breakfast, check emails and start working on my list for the day. I am mad about writing lists, which I do the evening before so that I am ready to go the next day, otherwise you can go off course with your day very quickly.

If I am in my kitchen for the day I usually finish around 6.30 then I check emails again and write a list for the next day. Then I collapse!!! Only joking.

What did you do before launching Bramble & Hedge and where does your passion for confectionary come from?

Before starting Bramble & Hedge I worked in London (2 years) and Beirut (5 years) as a Private Chef. While I was living in Beirut, I used to visit Syria and go to the amazing Damascus Market ( Al-Hamidiyah Souq). There were many stalls with huge pyramid shaped displays of Turkish Delight and Nougat, I think I always had in the back of my mind that maybe I could do something like that and when I saw the recipe for nougat these images came back to me. My passion for confectionary comes from just being able to create something beautiful and delicious!

What is involved in choosing the different flavours of Bramble & Hedge?

We have a collection of flavours that are available all year round and then we have seasonal flavours, at the moment we are making our delicious Blood Orange and Verjuice Nougat which is very popular. My stockists are asking from the start of the year when the Blood Orange will be back! We also create a couple of christmas nougats for the festive season. Last year we did Gingerbread nougat with little snow flake gingerbread biscuits and we will definitely be doing those again this year.

As a small business owner, do you have any advice for others looking to launch a small business?

My advice if you want to launch a brand or product is – Do it! I am a creative person so the business side of my business has been a massive learning curve for me, all you can do is be kind to yourself and take your time. I think I was listening to Anthony Robbins who said you don’t let a baby try once to learn to walk and if they don’t get it, say bad luck you can crawl around on your belly for the rest of your life!! Having your own business can be overwhelming at times and to overcome this feeling I have trained myself to concentrate on the task at hand and to do it very well, then move on to the next task and do that very well and so on. Take one task at a time and only think about that task not all the other things you have to do. It is very demanding and so much hard work, but its an amazing achievement to have created your own business and that feeling out weighs all of that.

When you’re not busy with Bramble & Hedge what do you like to do in your spare time?

I love to visit restaurants in Melbourne and Victoria to find inspiration. Travelling, I travel at least once a year.

If you were stranded on a deserted island and could only bring three things, what would they be?

My little dog Macy( who lived in Beirut too), iPad and banana lounge.