OUR STORY CREATING CORNISH RUM AND GIN
Our History
After Richard and Fionagh Harding moved to a farm on the beautiful North Cornish coast in 2006, they decided that having a smallholding wouldn’t be sustainable. Diversifying was the only option, and that’s exactly what they did. Since then, Norton Barton Farm has been granted Food Enterprise Zone in 2015, one of only two in Cornwall and is one of the only Artisan Food Villages in the UK. The Artisan Food Village is now home to The Cornish Distilling Co alongside Cornish Charcuterie and Popti.
In 2016, Fionagh went on a distillery course. It was there we discovered distilling might be harder than we initially thought. As it turns out it was perfect timing as Tom Read, who is an ex lifeguard and has a PhD in biochemistry, was looking for his next step.
Since then, the company has created four unique cornish rums and a variety of cornish gins, one of very few distilleries in the UK that ferment, distil and bottle rum from scratch. Kitty Harding has joined the distilling team as Assistant Distiller. As well as the build of our wonderful new distillery.
The Distillery at Norton Barton Farm
Norton Barton is a 348-acre farm located high up overlooking the town of Bude and all the way down the Cornish coast. Having originally believed they would run a couple of holiday cottages, Richard and Fionagh decided instead to keep the farm running, with farming experience gained almost exclusively from listening to the Archers and the kindness of their neighbours, they embarked on their journey as farmers. In 2009, seeking to add value to the site and keep the farm (on which they now bread pigs) profitable, Cornish Charcuterie was born.
Norton Barton Farm is one of only two food enterprise zones in the South West, the site of a local development orders, home to 5 companies, approximately 20 employees, one wind turbine, 4 much more grown up children, and 2 conspicuously not retired ex investment bankers.
Now Norton Barton Artisan Food Village is a remarkable feat in the world of artisan food production, but the setting for a quiet countryside life, it is not. The project as a whole is dedicated to ethically and environmentally viably producing the best quality food and drink products whilst supporting and sustaining the unique Cornish way of life, doing so by, among other things, farming the pigs that go into the production of the salami and rillettes that they produce.
Our Values and Customer Promise
- Integrity – we believe is saying what we do and doing what we say.
- Quality – it’s an overused mantra but we try wherever possible to use the best possible ingredients we can, sourced from local producers when available.
- Environment – we are constantly looking to reduce our environmental impact at all levels. The majority of our energy is generated from an on site wind turbine, water for processing and cooling is from an on-site bore hole, our product packaging is 100% recyclable when possible, and we seek to recycle waste, firstly in other food products and then secondly as feed for the farm animals and finally bio mass boilers.
- Co-operation – we believe that co-operation is key. We collaborate with other producers to reduce waste, improve efficiency and share expertise. We see our full supply chain as important and treat our suppliers with the same respect that we treat our customers. Always aiming to pay a fair price for quality products whilst striving to keep within their terms.
- Staff – without our brilliant staff we can not function. We operate a collegiate approach to staff management. We do not discriminate and everyone is treated with respect.