How locally do you sell?
We do a little market in Penryn, which is very accessible for the university. We also supply a farm shop, Trevelyan near Penzance, Archie Brown in Truro, and a few hotels: Tresanton, The Nare, Budock Vean, Trelowarren New Yard Restaurant, Housel Bay Hotel, the Sailing Club at Helford, and Peasouk in Falmouth.
We travel carbon neutral because we are using recycled cooking oil for our vehicles. All the produce goes out on the very same day it’s cut so it’s extremely fresh. There’s no way wholesalers, Riverford or supermarkets can do that. So it does gives us that edge.
What are the issues with selling your produce locally?
Well, with a box scheme a customer can easily see where, say, £11.50 is going out from their family budget, so they think “oh, if we don’t have that, we’ll save £11.50”.
But in the supermarket, they probably spend £11.49 or maybe more without realising. When they get to the check-out, £120, and they think “oh jolly good, we don’t have to spend that £11.50 on our veg box” . Unfortunately they don’t then check to see whether the fruit and veg theyve picked up in the supermarket is actually cheaper.
Also, what they’ve picked up is not as good a quality (in our humble opinion!). It's not as fresh, not as local and not as low in carbon footprint.
What is the main age range of customers?
We have quite a few students, some families - that’s one reason for losing customers: divorce, or if the children move away. And older generation - one of the things they say is “oh, I haven’t tasted eggs like these in years!”
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