4 minute read
FOOD & DRINK
The Food Factor
New initiative champions Cornish food and drink sector.
Cornwall is synonymous with beautiful beaches and glorious summer holidays, but it has, in recent times, become a real foodie destination.
From world renowned chefs to award-winning spirits and unique local produce,
Cornwall has it all.
Produce crafted in Cornwall forms part of most people’s holiday when visiting the region, and for those local producers the supply into shops, restaurants and hotels provides the opportunity to build brand awareness and further enhance the reputation of ‘brand Cornwall’ at a national and international level.
The food and drink sector is worth nearly £2 billion per annum in revenue and takes a large bite out of the whole of Cornwall’s total economic output – with an 18% share of the pie. With one in three jobs in the region, which equates to 60,000 people, having some form of attachment to Cornish food and drink, it is clear how vital the success of the sector is to the county’s prosperity. In January 2022, a new initiative was launched to help celebrate and accelerate the growth of food and drink businesses across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. The Food and Drink Cornwall project, which is funded by the UK Government through the UK Community Renewal Fund via Cornwall Council, has worked with over 70 local producers across the county. Designed and delivered by Oxford Innovation Advice, the project has offered a package of fully funded support to start-ups and established businesses over the last six months. This has included one-to-one advice from industry experts, a series of specialist workshops, an online diagnostic tool to assess business needs and virtual classrooms developed in partnership with renowned chef and food campaigner, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, and his team at River Cottage. Hugh, who has provided video content and mentorship to the project, explains: “Cornwall has long been a haven for brilliant artisan food businesses. From personal experience, I know having the right guidance is a key requirement for building a successful food business. The Food and Drink Cornwall project certainly seems to be providing just that, and we at River Cottage are delighted to be supporting that initiative.”
As part of the project, local producers were also given the opportunity to showcase their products at a fantastic food fair at the Eden Project and attend the first-ever Food & Drink Cornwall Conference, which saw over 100 Cornish businesses and industry leaders gather together to discuss trends, challenges and opportunities facing the sector. One of the many local businesses to have benefitted from the project is The
Panel discussion photo below:
From left to right: Kim Conchie (Cornwall Chamber of Commerce), Charles Banks (thefoodpeople), Ann Vandermeulen (FSB), chef and food campaigner Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall (River Cottage), Gelf Anderson (River Cottage), Clare Parnell (Cornwall & Isles of Scilly LEP) and Ruth Huxley (The Great Cornish Food Store) debate the future at the first-ever Food and Drink Cornwall Conference.
Falmouth Distilling Company, which has been creating award-winning gin since 2020. Chloe Gillatt, one of the founders of the company, explains: “We’ve done a few business support sessions previously, but found this much more useful. The advice came from actual industry experts, and was tailored to our needs based on a brilliant, comprehensive assessment undertaken at the start. The project was also geared towards up and running businesses, which is something we’ve struggled to find elsewhere. Lastly, the obvious one: all this incredible support was free!” Businesses on the Food and Drink Cornwall programme additionally benefited from access to a comprehensive suite of resources and tools. This included the market leading business diagnostic tool GROWTHmapper®, which helps identify areas for improvement, perceived strengths and weaknesses in order to effectively target support. Thanks to the project, the Cornwall Pasta Co has also received one-to-one support from a team of specialists and attended workshops on Shopify stores, food photography with a smartphone, and financial planning and forecasting. Praising the project, chef Nick Egan from Cornwall Pasta Co says: “We received some amazing one-to-one support including phone calls and meetings here at the factory. We were able to discuss growth and long term strategies moving forward with our business, all of which were extremely rewarding and have helped in giving me some needed confidence and assurance we are correct in certain areas”. Food and Drink Cornwall is a pilot, which has been launched to test new methodologies to boost food and drink producers in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. Funding for the pilot follows Cornwall Council’s successful bid to the government’s UK Community Renewal Fund, to provide support for this important and growing sector. Andrew Finley, Project Director, concludes: “We are absolutely delighted by the success of the Food and Drink Cornwall project and the levels of engagement from across the industry, from primary producers to food retailers. The project confirms a real need for high-quality packages of support and the immediate beneficial impact that can have on businesses.”
Photo opposite page top:
A food fair was held at the Eden Project in May to celebrate and showcase some of the incredible local food and drink products Cornwall has to offer.
Photo below:
Some of the exciting Cornish food and drink producers supported by the Food and Drink Cornwall project in 2022.
