Ena Baxter, a native of Huntly, Aberdeenshire, a countrywoman, born and bred, has always been passionately keen on gardening and the growing of flowers and plants.

In 1940, her love of art led her to study drawing and painting at Gray's School of Art in Aberdeen. Here, under the tutelage of D M Sutherland and Robert Sivell, she became a talented portrait painter with a sensitive appreciation of colour and line drawing.

A practical approach to earning a living directed Ena to graduate as a teacher of Art, but before launching into her teaching career, she worked with the Ministry of Food at the Torry Research Station in Aberdeen.

This service towards the war effort, although she didn't realise it at the time, was to stand her in good stead in the not too distant future.

When a post came up for a Head Teacher of Art at Milne's High School, Fochabers, Ena found herself making her home in Morayshire, some 20 miles from her birthplace. In 1952 she met and married Gordon Baxter and, as they say, 'the rest is history'.

In 1952, when Ena Baxter joined the small family business desperately trying to return to normality after the hard years and privation of wartime, materials of all kinds were in short supply and trained staff difficult to find.

She and her husband, Gordon, in their tiny laboratory at the factory, soon commenced a joint lifetime's dedication to the creation of superb quality products for their family enterprise. New soups, jams, pickles, sauces and a host of other specialities were developed by them over the next 30 years, then packaged and marketed - perhaps for Ena the designing of new labels was her additional vocation - a job she really enjoyed doing.

With such a frenzy of new developments going on, there was little or no time for art, although her garden continued to be a source of real pleasure.

Ena and Gordon travelled extensively overseas to market their new products and, whilst long and tiring visits to supermarkets were mandatory, there were always fabulous galleries to visit in London, Paris, Rome, Madrid, Washington and New York.

However, the needs of the business always came before personal pleasure as they sought new markets all over the world for their ever increasing range of fine quality products made on Speyside.