Good Growth funding helping Cornwall’s food and drink businesses
Funding from the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Good Growth Programme is helping local food and drink businesses grow, become more sustainable and create jobs.
The programme is run by Cornwall Council and funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. It is expected to help around 738 local businesses develop new or better products and services.
Several well-known businesses are already benefiting.
St Ewe Free Range Eggs at Grampound Road is building a new facility to turn shell eggs into liquid egg. This will improve food safety, cut waste and even turn eggshells into a soil improver.
Origin Coffee, near Stithians, is using support to produce its own cold brew coffee and coffee capsules in Cornwall and to open a new Cold Brew Brewery, keeping more value in the local economy.
Rodda’s in Scorrier is building a new cottage cheese factory next to its current site. This will increase production, meet growing demand for British dairy and create 10 skilled jobs.
Buttermilk in Bodmin has expanded its factory, doubling its capacity and creating new jobs while meeting demand for plant-based sweets.
The project also added solar panels and heat-recovery systems to cut energy use. On St Martin’s in the Isles of Scilly, SC Dogs Distillery has installed solar panels on its small-batch rum distillery, supporting low‑carbon production using island‑grown sugar cane and local ingredients.
The Good Growth Programme also supports the wider food and drink sector through Great Cornish Food.
This work includes small grants to help businesses grow and reach new markets, and training and education through the Great Cornish Food Academy to encourage young people into food, farming and fishing.
So far, this strand has invested £115,000 in 29 businesses, given advice and mentoring to nearly 30 businesses and over 70 individuals, trained 59 volunteers involved in community food projects, helped create a new Level 3 engineering apprenticeship for food manufacturing, and run careers events in Cornish secondary schools.
Cornwall’s agri‑food sector generates over £1.5 billion a year for the local economy and supports thousands of jobs.
Since 2022, more than £14 million has been invested in this sector through the Good Growth Programme, helping businesses increase production, reduce waste, improve sustainability and respond to changing customer tastes.
All of this supports a strong future for Cornwall’s food and drink industry and contributes to UK food security.