A premium brand for Cornish produce was launched by Bristol Fruit Sales on Monday.
Growfair - Pride of Cornwall is intended to fill a gap in the market for an easily recognisable and authentic Cornish fresh produce brand.
The first branded products will be early Cornish asparagus and early Cornish new potatoes, before the scheme is extended to a wider range of products associated with the region.
The over-arching brand will support an expanding portfolio of products and foster ethical win-win relationships with local vegetable, fruit and salad growers - a fair and consistent price will be given, paid promptly, to enable more efficient forward financial planning for Cornish growers.
Mark Oughtred, brand development manager, said: “We at Bristol Fruit Sales already have an established reputation for quality and service built up over the years, so Growfair ties in very well with our own business culture. Our Growfair farmers are immensely passionate about what they do and have been farming the Cornish land, often for many generations. The quality of their fresh produce speaks for itself and we as a company are extremely proud to be involved in supplying it through our Growfair brand to the wider community.
“Cornwall is rich in heritage and has a very proud community - couple this with the extensive tourism industry that the county enjoys, especially in the summer months, and you’re presented with a real opportunity to promote local produce.”
The brand was developed with Objective One funding from Taste of the West and the continued collaboration with the University of Plymouth, as part of a government-funded scheme Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP), through which Oughtred was recruited.
The new brand was created in response to consumer demand for local produce.
“We hope that, when the brand gets off the ground, more growers will get on board because the larger the portfolio we have, the better it is for everybody,” Oughtred said.
The customer base will include foodservice, secondary wholesalers and retail markets throughout the South West, with prestigious clientele as the Brend Hotel Group and the Tresanton Hotel already on board.
Bristol Fruit Sales Direct (Cornwall), based in Bodmin, has the internal transport infrastructure to get the brand into provincial markets such as Bristol, London, Birmingham, Southampton, Cardiff, and throughout Devon and Cornwall, with temperature-controlled vehicles that operate daily.
Martin Baldry, Cornwall regional manager for Bristol Fruit Sales, said: “We look forward to building stronger relationships with our growers, ensuring they get a fairer return for their better quality produce. Growfair is a great concept and we firmly believe locally grown fresh produce should be supported at all times wherever possible.”
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