An Interview With: Tor Amran, Director of the Cornish Food Box

Our friends at Cornish Food Box sell and deliver food to feel good about; from grass-fed, free range meat and poultry, sustainably caught fish and seafood, to veg grown just down the road from their HQ in Cornwall. We offer a choice of six welcome gift options to welcome our guests to Cornwall, one option being a handy voucher for Cornish Food Box. This means you can avoid the supermarket queues, choose exactly the produce you want, and have it delivered to your holiday door upon arrival.

We caught up with Tor, director and co-founder of Cornish Food Box, to find out how supporting their business has a positive, knock on effect for the Cornish community and environment.

Tell us a bit about what you do, and what led to the creation of Cornish Food Box?

Cornish Food Box was started by my sister, Lucy and I back in 2010. We grew up on our family dairy farm near Porthleven and wanted to start a business that celebrated the rural economy and Cornwall’s community, culture and collaborative nature. It’s lucky that we are surrounded by some of the best food in the world – we want to showcase that to locals and visitors. Now we deliver all over the UK five days a week and are incredibly proud of our relationships with more than 250 local farmers, fishermen, bakers and independent family run food businesses.

What would you say are the benefits of buying produce locally?

Where do you start? The food is fresher because it has travelled far less distance to you. You are often choosing to eat seasonally when it comes to vegetables which expands your knowledge of what is available when… Seasonal food always tastes better! You are buying into the community who produced the food and shortening the supply chain. You are supporting the people who are the guardians of our landscape and biodiversity. When choosing to spend your money with smaller producers you are making a powerful statement about how you think food should be grown, reared, caught or made.

Our six-option welcome gift scheme helps our guests to have a more sustainable, environmentally friendly holiday. How does choosing the Cornish Food Box voucher play into this?

Cornish Gems are really leading the way with this Welcome Voucher Scheme. Not only does it massively reduce food waste but it gives guests the choice to order exactly what they want to receive when they arrive. The Voucher Scheme connects guests with local producers here in Cornwall and makes it really easy and convenient for them to do all or part of their grocery shop from producers across the county. This means more money is spent locally supporting the agricultural industry, jobs and the economy throughout the year. 

You are deeply rooted in the Cornish community, how does ordering through Cornish Food Box help to support the local economy?

We work with more than 250 Cornish farmers, fishermen, butchers, bakers and small independent food businesses. Each order placed with us means more money is spent locally which in turn supports producers who work extremely hard, year round, to produce food in the ‘right’ way! There are no fake farms when you shop with Cornish Food Box. We pay a fair price for all the produce we purchase, and have extremely long term partnerships with the people we work with. We deliver throughout the year which allows producers to plan for 12 months of the year and not just through certain times of the year. Cornish Food Box celebrates our farming and fishing culture by making it really easy for people to buy the very best food Cornwall has to offer.

5. Cornish Food Box delivers the most delicious, fresh, seasonal food – what are the benefits of eating in tune with the seasons?

If you have ever tried a Cornish strawberry in the summer, a sweet Cornish early potato in the Spring or amazingly fresh fish and seafood from the small day boats at Newlyn Harbour you’ll know what the benefits of eating seasonally are. Seasonal eating means you take advantage of food when it’s at it’s very best and is in tune with the environment around you. Try a supermarket strawberry in December and then a Cornish one in July…I mean they just aren’t even the same thing!!

You can find out more about the fantastic work that the Cornish Food Box do here. To view our welcome gift scheme and learn how you can experience the delights of local produce whilst on holiday in Cornwall, please click here.