DELI OF THE MONTH

It would not be fair to judge a farm shop’s new manager a er only six weeks in the job, but the ra of small but impactful changes brought in by the new man at the helm of Cornish-focused store Tre, Pol & Pen – and his new team – has been winning over sta , suppliers and customers – and that's no mean feat...

Interview by Tom Dale

Kernow calling

DESPITE ONLY JOINING the business six weeks before FFD’s visit to Cornish farm shop Tre, Pol & Pen, its operations manager Charlie Furnivall has overseen a ra of changes in all areas of the business, which have so far been pleasing both sta and customers.

These changes, Furnivall says, have been bringing the operation back in line with the owner’s original vision for the store, and highlighting the farm-to-fork o er that marks the retailer out.

The edgeling farm shop opened just four years ago, a er farmer David Watkins decided to diversify his agricultural business, and the architectural award-winning, sleek premises belies its infancy.

Initially managed by Watkins’ daughter and son-in-law, the business fell into the hands of an internally promoted member of sta a er 18 months, and the community driven, Cornish-focused ethos fell by the wayside.

The name – borrowed from a phrase in a 17th Century poem which supposedly can be used to describe people from and places in Cornwall – Tre, Pol & Pen means, in Cornish, “homestead, water, and hill”. Fittingly, the site lies nestled on a hill, by an ancient spring on a farm, and re ects the direction in which new manager Furnivall is taking the business.

Since it was “relaunched” on 1st October, the farm shop has had its local roots reinvigorated. Cornish art and photography now decorate the walls of the café, a renewed focus on Cornish products can be seen in the retail o er – ditching the more mainstream items that crept in during COVID, and increased messaging around the shop now makes more of the farm’s own produce sold on site, including beef from its herd of Ruby Red cattle, lamb, and sheepskin eeces. The new manager has even had a rustic wooden sign installed outside the entrance pointing out the distance to the two nearest large towns, and then toward the farm with the caption, “OUR HERD 0.1m”.

“It’s really important for us to have that USP,” says Furnivall, “and it works on two levels.”

“Cornish people are very sentimental about their home county, and we get a lot of tourists as well, so getting that Cornish

VITAL STATISTICS

Location: Lezant, Launceston, Cornwall, PL15 9NN Turnover: £1-2m Average basket spend: £25 Floorspace: 300 m3 Gross margin – shop: 35-40%

MUST-STOCKS

Landue sirloin steaks reared on the farm

message across is what they want to see.”

The one exception is the shop’s revamped wine o er. Previously the farm shop stocked only eight to ten varieties of strictly English wine. Starting at around £20, the range lacked everyday options for Tre Pol & Pen’s local clientele, so Furnivall reduced the number of homegrown lines, and upped the o er with 50 new international wines stylishly arranged in a purpose-built wine cave. This more cosmopolitan range is largely priced between £6 and £8 per bottle, though of course, the supplier is Cornish.

Provenance is a word that comes up repeatedly at Tre, Pol & Pen. In their messaging to customers on the back of menus in the café, on the murals on the walls, and in conversation with Furnivall and his retail (and ex-Waitrose) manager, Leann Read.

The pair has added and changed hundreds of lines – around half of the shop’s stock – to renew the Cornish credentials, and it is winning people over across the board.

“We’ve had some great feedback on the new ranges,” she says. “This going back to being Cornish has excited customers, suppliers and sta . I haven’t heard anything negative yet.”

One of the pair’s missions is to connect their customers with the producers found on Tre, Pol & Pen’s shelves. As well as making more of the farm-to-fork beef, and planning market-style ‘meet the producer’ events in the business’s ample outdoor space, the new managers are slowly adding small A4 signs introducing some of their favourite producers around the store.

The rst was for Plymouth-based chocolatier Hobbs Chocolates. “We put in a big order when I rst started that I thought would last at least a month,” says Furnivall. “But we’ve already restocked three times. I can’t say if it’s the board, or just that they’re delicious, but it de nitely helps to foster those connections.”

One of Furnivall’s proudest catches has been the addition of a fresh sh chiller, stocked with sustainably caught seafood all landed from in-shore day boats in nearby Looe harbour. Each portion has the name of the boat that caught it printed on its label, and the sustainable credentials were even enough to tempt formerly vegan Furnivall away from ve years of strict plant-based living. “I’m pescatarian now,” he laughs. “You just can’t get more ethical and traceable than that.”

Other changes that have been introduced since the relaunch are the streamlining of the retail area – delineating the various sections more clearly and making use of hanging signage to assist in the customer journey, the introduction of a cosier sofa seating area in the café aptly named ‘cosy corner’, the launch of pizza Fridays, and a revamp of the store’s loyalty system – introducing more weekly o ers and permanently doubling the points earned per pound.

These, for Furnivall are all contributing to making the farm shop a hub for the local community.

Owner Watkins is well known in the area, and creating a space for locals to spend time was integral to his original vision for Tre, Pol & Pen. “It’s important for David and me to create a space where people feel they can come and drop in any time, for anything,” says Furnivall.

When he took over the reins, one of the rst changes the new manager made was to return the café to being open seven days a week. “When they cut the days down to ve, the local community were really upset. It just goes to show how important this place is to people.”

One thing the locals almost demand, Furnivall says, is a good butcher’s counter,

Nippers fresh Cornish fish Coombeshead bakery sourdough Hugo’s Cornish Granola Hugo’s Cornish Muesli Cornish Chilli co.

Jellyfish Gin Jacob Sheep Skins – from our own flock Made by Ma natural Cornish skincare Atlantic Brewery Azores Pale Ale

and they don’t come much better. The farm’s own grass-fed beef and lamb is all hung and aged on-site by the shop’s team of three butchers. “Around here, the butchers have great relationships with their customers and a lot of them come in for that connection, and his experience.”

This also ticks other boxes for Furnivall: having the right people with the right knowledge on each section, and keeping things in-house.

Having employed 15 people in his six weeks with the business, this is evident. Since the relaunch, the shop’s pastry chef has begun baking sweet pastries to stock in the shop and decadent-looking cakes for the café, the head chef has begun making his own charcuterie for use in the foodservice side of the operation, and bringing in Read’s two decades of retail expertise has elevated the shop’s o er.

These moves also help to cut food miles even further, which, for eco-focused Furnivall is not only important, but imperative to farm retail. “If you’re not looking at better ways to operate, to reduce your waste and the environmental impact of what you do, you’re not really a farm retailer. It’s in the farming mindset to act that way,” he says.

Tre, Pol & Pen has a large zero-waste hopper and eco-products section which is increasingly popular with customers, as well as being easier for sta , he says. The shop also employs a closed-loop system, whereby any short-dated lines in the seafood, butchery, or bakery sections are frozen before they reach their sell-by for use in foodservice, rather than being reduced or wasted.

It’s not only the climate that has the manager keeping one eye on the future. He is set to use his experience in online, direct-to-consumer retail with Riverford and Evers eld to plan the launch of Tre, Pol & Pen’s online o er.

The scheme is set to be trialled in the local area this winter for customers’ Christmas orders, but a much larger, nationwide next-day delivery service is planned for the new year. Making use of owner Watkins’ unused warehouse space, the operation is set to o er a high-end, locally focused grocery delivery service to tap into the nation’s increased desire for artisan produce – and convenience. While the ner details of the scheme are yet to be ironed out – along with the question of the scalability of the shop’s unique regional name – but Furnivall tells FFD to keep its eyes peeled in 2022.

Amid reports that staycations are to remain popular for the foreseeable future, Furnivall also plans to make use of the roughly two acres of unused space on the current plot to launch a campsite. “The area has been a very popular holiday destination over the last couple of years, and staycationing looks like it’s here to stay. With the shop and restaurant right here, it would be a great boon to our already-good summer trade.”

It’s obviously early days for the enthusiastic new manager, but if the rst months of his tenure are anything to go by, this farm shop will be one to look out for in years to come.

trepolandpen.co.uk

It’s important to create a space where people feel they can come and drop in any time, for anything