A COUPLE are preparing to take their signature sauces from their small Essex restaurant into the aisles of major supermarkets - including Waitrose. 

Nic and Leigh Cleeve, who ran the Taishon restaurant in Canewdon Road, have shut the business after three years but are now eyeing a bigger and better future. 

After 15 months of planning, the couple are preparing to produce two signature sauces and have signed a deal with a manufacturer to go into production in January. 

The manufacturer has a track record of working with big-name retailers and Nic is confident his product will soon be on the shelves at major supermarkets. 

The two sauces, keeping the Taishon name in homage to the restaurant, are a Korean sauce and a Peking sauce – designed for dipping, wings, noodles, rice, broths and much more.

From Westcliff to Waitrose - Leigh and Nic Cleeve From Westcliff to Waitrose - Leigh and Nic Cleeve (Image: Nic Cleeve)Nic said: “We know how popular the product is, we have had three years of testing, and it was our customers who told us to bottle it, a Facebook comment from a resident three years ago asking us to bottle it.

"Come January, we will be and I just want to give a big thank you for all of the support we have had, it has been a difficult time and when we took on Taishon we were two complete amateurs and out of that we had an enormous learning experience.”

Enjoy - Daughter Diem Cleeve enjoying korean noodles Enjoy - Daughter Diem Cleeve enjoying korean noodles (Image: Nic Cleeve)

Nic is thankful for the couple’s experiences across the past three years but is excited to allow people to bring Taishon home with them.

He added: “People do give a damn and there will be disappointment from people who won’t be able to get the wings they love but without their support we would have disappeared.

Mock up - What the new Taishon sauces could look like Mock up - What the new Taishon sauces could look like (Image: Nic Cleeve)

“It is nice to have had that support and to be able to build a strong brand that started from a little shop in Westcliff.”

Nic has pointed to Waitrose and Selfridges as realistic locations for the sale of the Taishon sauce.

The closure is following a devastating flood in July that left them £20,000 out of pocket and forced to close for six weeks.

However, Nic has said that the business was up for sale prior to the flood to allow the couple to pursue a new venture.