Chorizo firm grows as holidaymakers recreate Euro flavours at their home

Artisan producer Alastair Crown believes sales of his Corndale cured meats benefited from frustrated holidaymakers using his chorizo and salami to recreate at home the meals they previously enjoyed in Spain, Italy and France.

The sharp rise in sales during and since the pandemic lockdown has led the Limavady-based pig farmer and owner of Corndale Charcuterie to search for bigger premises that will enable him to keep pace with the growing demand for his farm cured meats.

“My business has grown by around 80 percent in the past six months,” he says. “A contributory factor, I am convinced, is the increase in home cooking during the lockdown. I hear from retailers that shoppers have been buying my cured meats to make meals at home that bring back flavours they’ve enjoyed on European holidays in the past. I’ve even had calls from people asking me for recipes for dishes using my chorizo and salami.

“Our products, furthermore, are in demand from those who’ve bought their own pizza ovens during lockdown and have been experimenting with different flavours. Some small engineering businesses here have been pivoting to develop pizza ovens for home cooks and BBQ enthusiasts.”

Other influences driving growth, he continues, are a rapid growth in on-line sales and more business with smaller retailers including family butchers and even petrol filling stations.

“The interest from such retail outlets has been immensely important because the lockdown led to my sales to hotels, restaurants and café’s here collapsing. Filling stations are now stocking more artisan food due to the lockdown demand from consumers for convenient retail outlets away from the supermarket queues. Filling stations are doing serious business in food in many parts of Northern Ireland.

“While I am beginning to recover sales since the lockdown was lifted on the hospitality sector, it will take some time to rebuild this important part of my business,” he adds.

Another encouraging development for Alastair during the lockdown was “a stunning growth in on-line sales from customers outside Northern Ireland”.

“Orders from England now account for 95 percent of our on-line business. And many on our website have become regular customers,” he says. “This growth in retail and on-line sales means we are probably now in a stronger position than before lockdown. We’ve widened our business base significantly and now have to look for much bigger premises in the Limavady area,” he adds. “What the lockdown did was to force me to bring forward plans I’ve had for some time to develop other outlets for sales.”

He’s currently searching for premises “at least three times bigger than the unit we currently occupy in Limavady”.

“I hope to find a place close to the town because it’s important that the processing unit should be close to my farm,” he continues.

The lockdown also saw the launch of a novel product for Corndale, a spicy black pudding using some key ingredients from the farm.

“Lockdown gave me time to explore some new product ideas in response to market opportunities I had identified,” he explains. “It’s another addition to the Corndale portfolio of artisan products using our own pedigree pigs.”

Alastair |33), a solar technology engineer, launched Corndale Charcuterie in 2012 with the aim of producing top quality products from his herd of rare-breed, free range pigs. His products subsequently attracted the interest of celebrity chef Jamie Oliver who included his chorizo in a recipe for paella, the traditional Spanish dish.

“I grew up in the country and have always been interested in pigs. I was keen on developing my own herd because it’s such a pleasure working with them,” he explains.

He taught himself butchery and then developed expertise in making chorizo, the traditional spicy sausage, to his own recipe: “I didn’t want to copy existing European recipes and styles. Instead I’ve created my own flavour and techniques. I knew what I liked in terms of spicy, smoky flavour and I was aware of various chorizo recipes. I wasn’t quite sure how the chorizo I liked would go down with consumers here.

“I hand craft the chorizo from fresh pork shoulder, smoked paprika, garlic and a tiny amount of salt as the only preservative. It’s an authentic food made the slow way over a period of months using quality ingredients and cured in the fresh air. There are no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives in the chorizo. The recipe is my secret, it’s my edge, the unique selling point, in a very competitive business. My products have total traceability. I know where every ingredient is sourced.”

As the growth over the past six months show, Corndale Charcuterie has been positioned by Alastair for continuing success both here and abroad.

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