Bright and early this morning I was at the Duerr’s factory and HQ in Wythenshawe to meet Catherine Murray, roving reporter for BBC Radio Manchester, to talk about Manchester Marmalade.

F Duerrs & Sons, the Manchester jam, marmalade and sweet spread manufacturers, have stepped up to the breakfast plate in a bid to reclaim our regional identity with the launch of Manchester Marmalade, a specially created marmalade for the people of Manchester.

Duerr’s have brought their 128 years of marmalade making know-how to produce the perfect marmalade with just the right levels of sweetness, orange variety, fruit content and thickness of peel to tickle the tastebuds of Mancunians – and BBC Radio Manchester came along to the factory to interview Richard Duerr and some of the Duerr’s team.

The Breakfast news is, perhaps predictably, a very early affair – and before 7.30 am the Democracy team, along with Catherine Murray and the Duerr’s spokespeople found themselves on the production line, wearing bright green hair nets, steel toe tapped shoes and high vis jackets.

If you were listening to Allan Beswick just before eight and again before nine you’d have heard Catherine chatting to Richard Duerr about the launch of the product and the money they hope to raise for Forever Manchester.

I was impressed by Catherine, the ‘marmalade correspondent’, who was a one woman traveling radio studio to all intents and purposes. Armed with just a mic, headphones and a transmitter (as well as a car with an enormous spike on the top) she interviewed, taste tested and vox-popped her way around Wythenshawe.

Good local content relevant to the audience clearly remains key to attracting and maintaining the radio audience – after all dragging oneself from sleep, arranging some toast (with maramalade of course), and the drive to work are all greatly eased and soothed by having someone who’s already been awake for a few hours chattering in the background.