Great Cornish food – Raising the bar

The food and drink industry in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly is an economic powerhouse with an annual turnover of over £2 billion.

Through our Great Cornish Food – Raising the Bar programme, we aim to build on the success and resilience of this vital sector, which accounts for almost one in five jobs west of the Tamar.

We also want to show the world all that is great about the great products of the peninsula and islands.

The program was created thanks to an investment of more than £500,000 from the Growing Good Cornwall and Isles of Scilly programme, which is managed by Cornwall Council and funded by the UK Government’s Shared Prosperity Fund.

Our project was launched in March this year and is delivered by our team at the Great Cornish Food Store in Truro.

We hit the ground running at a crucial time. The food and drink industry faces headwinds in the form of subsidy reform, the need to decarbonise and cost pressures.

We want our agri-food and fisheries businesses to be best in class and our project aims to achieve this by showcasing, supporting and evolving the sector in a new and engaging way, by industry people, for industry.

So how do we do this?

As part of our growth plan, we help new businesses find their feet – and help established companies grow – by accessing the right expertise, becoming more efficient and productive, reaching the right customers and finding the right people.

We can help all levels of business access professional help from some of the best in their field to crystallize ideas, fill knowledge gaps or simply act as a sounding board.

A large proportion of the project budget is invested directly into the business through our easy-to-access small grants programme, which is already fully allocated.

We are creating the new Great Cornish Food Awards to shine a light on those who excel in ways that really matter, recognizing those who carry the standard and sharing the secrets of their success.

We are developing a Great Cornish Food Academy to inspire budding food entrepreneurs and attract new talent to the industry, including showcasing the range of career opportunities available to the next generation as well as older people thinking about a change in career.

And we bring the industry closer together with a definite purpose. Ahead of closing on April 1 this year, the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership has commissioned a report on agriculture, fisheries and food information that will help shape food strategy and investment in the county and islands.

To help us develop this strategy, we are creating an industry-led Food Board to ensure effective direct participation of businesses in the sector.

So we say to anyone running a food, drink, farming or fishing business in Cornwall and Scilly, or thinking of setting one up – we can help you in many ways.

We can help you find and keep the right people, pay them better, find new markets, build your brand, walk lighter on the planet, get the recognition you deserve and improve your bottom line.

And we can help you go greener and cleaner. Cornwall has all the tools to get ahead in the race against climate change and become a leader in the low-impact food systems the world so desperately needs.

Great Cornish Food promotes local pioneers in regenerative and zero farming, sustainable fishing, conservation, biodiversity and circular economies.

We can show you the opportunities that renewable energy generation, new technologies and space exploration can bring to food, drink, farming and fishing, and we give you the right connections to make it happen.

If you are – or know of – a food, drink, fishing or farming business in Cornwall or Scilly and would like to find out more about how you can benefit from our sector development programme, we’d love to hear from you.

You can contact us at [email protected]. For more information, visit www.cornwallfoodanddrink.co.uk.

This article first appeared in the June 2024 issue of Business Cornwall.