February 12 2021
St Ewe Free Range Eggs is a Cornish family run business. We have never claimed to only produce Cornish eggs and have always had full transparency both on our website and packaging. There simply are not enough free-range, RSPCA Assured and Red Lion Code Accredited Cornish flocks to sustain the business. Therefore, in order to grow we work with 16 fantastic family producer farms across the Southwest and have recently taken on two farms in Wales to support the business, as we move this Cornish based brand into the national and international markets.
We are so proud to have taken our business from a small flock on the home farm to where we are today and with it we have offered employment within the local communities, supported other family farms across the Southwest, educated on the importance of high welfare eggs and now have turned a potentially catastrophic situation into a way of helping thousands of people living in food insecurity across Cornwall and reduce food waste.
We support not only Cornish farmers and employ from within the local communities at our home farm near Tregony, but also support family farms throughout the Southwest enabling them to in turn support their local communities with employment, and continue educating on the importance of high welfare animal husbandry.
The Covid pandemic has affected farmers, local communities and businesses not just in Cornwall but across the entire country and we are doing our bit to help support that. There are 30,000 families in Cornwall alone struggling each and every day with food insecurity and we are ashamed as a business that we didn’t know how bad the situation was. This is happening to everyday people, people who until a year ago had financial security and food in the fridge. We as a Cornish business feel it is our responsibility to do what we can, to help as many people as possible gain access to nutritious food, especially important in today’s climate!
Shell Out 2 Help Out began as a result of the 3rd national lockdown and the closure of the hospitality and food service sectors. Just like many small businesses, we have seen half of our business disappear due to the pandemic. Unfortunately, unlike a restaurant, we can’t furlough a hen and our girls keep producing nutritious eggs, with no home to go to!
We, along with countless other packers in the UK face the heart-breaking reality of having to literally throw away these perfectly edible eggs, right when they are needed most. St Ewe had to act fast and act we did. So it is from here that the idea for the Shell Out 2 Help Out campaign came to fruition; to reduce food waste, support local communities not just in Cornwall and supply nutritious eggs to those so desperately in need. This is much bigger than we ever imagined!
We are hoping as many people as possible get involved in this initiative, enabling everybody to gain access to this incredibly nutritious and versatile food. We have therefore launched a Crowdfunding page to help increase donations 5 times over and hope to reduce the pop ups once lockdown eases, and get more eggs to those that need them most.
We have been blown away with the positivity and support from countless people across Cornwall, who have offered their time, properties, transportation and donations to help us, help others. This is what it’s about, it is not a profit making exercise. It is about us as a local company standing up and doing our bit to help support as many people as possible and we only wish others do the same.
The Covid-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on local livelihoods, businesses and the Cornish way of life. The continuing lockdowns have had a profound effect on so many food producers including St Ewe, and we need to help educate the Great British public on the importance of buying British, supporting local businesses and just what goes into producing our country’s outstanding produce. This is much bigger than just us, but we all need to stand together and play our part. Together we can make a difference!