Having always had a passion for chillies, we (Sue and Scott) and have been growing chillies for several years. Having come from a business and social care management background, we took a leap of faith and in 2016 started our own chilli farm in mid Cornwall with a few hundred plants. Within just 5 years, the business has expanded to us growing thousands of plants with over 50 varieties, ranging from almost heat-less to the hottest chillies in the world!
We have built a reputation for supplying high quality fresh chillies, working with a wide range of restaurants, independent stores, food suppliers and sauce making companies across the UK. This also includes the Mexican Embassy in London, and we have supplied the Eden Project in Cornwall with our plants for their Biodomes. We also work with chefs who make our award winning sauces, jams and chutneys, which we sell online or at local and national food markets and festivals.
"I purchased Bullet and Pot black chillies last week, at the Wednesday market on Lemon Quay, and wanted to let you know that they were fantastic. Fresh, flavoursome, delicious!"
"I’ve lived in the Far East, and shared a few with a neighbour who worked for the UN in Africa and the Middle East, and we both agreed that their quality far exceeded any supermarket bought or other chillies available locally by miles. No comparison at all." Andy from Falmouth
Up until now we have been reliant on leasing polytunnels, but have now outgrown our current facility, which is limiting what we can grow and produce as well as limiting our aims and ambitions. We require a site that can be planned and developed to best suit our needs and move the business onto the next stage - creating local jobs, providing a unique visitor experience and facilities for schools and the wider community to use.
Our Vision:
We have been granted planning permission to construct our own purpose-built site to further develop the aims and ambitions of the business by:
- A collaboration with the prestigious Trewithen Estate, who are themselves committing a substantial amount toward the infrastructure costs and making Estate land available for the build - Trewithen contribution £50,000
- Increasing the commercial growing space - £19,000
- Development of a small shop and office on site, the office will also have a hot desk facility for people to book and use - £10,000
- Development of tour facility for visitors which will include a special visitor growing tunnel and a covered hospitality area. The visitor polytunnel - smaller than the growing tunnels - will enable people to wander through and look at a wide range of chillies from every continent. Information and education boards will enable people to know where they are from, what they taste like and the other benefits of these wonderful fruits - £14,000
- Increased production of products - £5,000
- Creating space for schools to use for their own growing projects to have a hands on experience and approach to learning about food sustainability, awareness of food miles and combating climate change - £2,000
- Community feast nights that will showcase and promote other local businesses; the facility could also be used by other businesses or the general public for special events - £1,500
- The use of green technologies and renewable approaches to our growing processes, such as solar power for some of our energy needs and collecting and re-using rainwater for our watering needs - £8,000
- Creating a diverse habitat on the site, which will include a number of different fruit trees, a small reservoir and hedgerows to encourage birds and a broader range of insects and small mammals to be able to create their homes and increase the diversity of the natural environment that will add pollinators for our plants - £6,000
Thank you for reading about, and considering our project