Cornish Sea Salt

A salary from the sea

By revitalising an ancient industry in the pure waters off Porthkerris, this company has created jobs and won international acclaim.

The drive to work allows Tony Fraser a spectacular opportunity to inspect his company’s essential raw material – the sea. But this isn’t about fishing or tourism. It’s about salt. In just four years, Fraser, MD of Cornish Sea Salt, has developed this natural harvest into a thriving business.

It’s just won the O2 X entrepreneur award, its product has been praised by top chefs and is soon to be stocked by Waitrose. It may seem like the fruits of a clever bit of marketing foresight but it’s just as much about ancient history. “We moved to here six years ago,” explains Fraser. “I’d been a forestry expert working abroad but my wife and I wanted to give our kids proper roots so we decided to move back to the UK. St Keverne seemed ideal, but there weren’t many openings for tropical foresters so I was looking for a business. And then someone told me about some Iron Age salt works near Coverack.”

He knew nothing about salt-making but found the idea inspiring. What was clever was his next move: with no salt but a simple brand, he took a stand at IFE, the big food exhibition, and asked people if they’d buy sea salt from Cornwall. The response was overwhelming and an idea became a mission.

Most sea salt comes from sunny climates that allow it to evaporate naturally in huge lagoons. British weather meant Fraser’s first challenge was finding ways of evaporating it indoors. “Using some innovative technology, we’ve been able to devise an energy-efficient method of production. Essentially, we pump seawater into our plant, extract some of the salt, and pump it out again. It’s clean and very efficient.”

The green credentials don’t just stop at production. The company reduces its “food miles” by sending just one bulk load of salt a week out of the county, to a contract packer near the motorway network, who distributes it nationally.

Support agencies such as Business Link helped the company enormously, says Fraser, but it has local support, too. With the closure of the local quarry, job prospects in the area were looking grim but the company has hired former quarry workers, with a current workforce of 9 and, with interest from the US, every hope for expansion.

Sea salt has a fresher taste than conventional table salt and it’s saltier, so you use less. With the UK’s ever-increasing interest in healthy regional food, it seems Cornish Sea Salt has arrived with perfect timing.