CIPR

Established in 2009, The Cornish Crisp Company was devised, in every respect, by Sue Wolstenholme, a Public Relations consultant and Cornwall resident. As much of Cornwall's potato crop was exported out of the county, Sue saw an opportunity for adding value to and celebrating a locally grown crop, whilst filling a gap in the market.

The Food and Drink sector is the leading industry in Cornwall, worth £1.5 billion per year, with the county producing, among many other things, their famous Rodda's Clotted Cream, Cornish Pasties and over 40 different locally made cheeses. The success of the Cornish brand for food was a key factor in the decision to develop the new product and establish The Cornish Crisp Company Limited, alongside the personal goal of Sue's to prove that a commercial product could be a success when promotion and publicity was led by reputation rather than by advertising and marketing.

The Cornish Crisp Company's business model centres on a commitment to social responsibility, including being a positive addition to the town in which the business operates, reducing the environmental impact of the business and celebrating the charities and organisations which make the company proud to be a part of the Cornish community.

Each different flavour of crisp has been allocated to a different charity to support and given a 'tater' nickname to add character and a local dimension to the crisps (in Cornwall, potatoes are known as 'taters'). The first flavours to launch were Salt and Vinegar (The 'Agitater' supporting non-profit organisation Surfers Against Sewage) Salt and Pepper (The 'Spectater' supporting the Hall for Cornwall, the main venue for the performing arts) Cheese and Onion (The 'Gratertater' supporting Cornwall Community Foundation) and Ready Salted (The 'Commontater' promoting ashesandsparks.com). A penny from every bag sold is donated to their charity, in addition to a space on the packet for the logo and a paragraph about their work. A new flavour, hot chilli, called The Devastater, has been added in aid of Shelter Box.

The link-up between flavours and charities was an opportunity to build new working relationships, give access to the charity's supporters, to highlight the ethical stance of the company and to create newsworthy stories together to enhance interest from the media. Raising awareness for the charities was given as much importance as raising funds for them. The Cornwall Community Foundation actually contacted the Cornish Crisp Company and asked for a flavour as they were keen for the opportunity to reach new audiences through the crisps as well as receiving donations.

Crisp packaging is often one of the most littered items, therefore the environmental impact of producing a new crisp product needed to be considered. An anti-littering message on behalf of Clean Cornwall was included on the packaging and waste is minimised by recycling when possible, most notably all the used sunflower oil is converted into bio-diesel. In addition, all office paper is used on both sides before recycling, cardboard is recycled by a local waste management firm and the company also has a green electricity tariff. All materials needed for the running of machinery and making of the crisps are, where possible, sourced locally. These remarkable efforts were recognised when the Cornish Crisp Company was highly commended by judges at the Cornwall Sustainability Awards in 2009 and 2010.

The Cornish Crisp Company strives to be a good employer, neighbour and member of the community. Local Women's institutes, Young Farmers Clubs and the local community school regularly request factory visits, which help to maintain and build relationships with the community.

Falling in line with the companies' dedication to supporting local business and ethical trading, a decision was made to not supply the major supermarkets due to a reputation for unfair treatment of small producers and farmers. It was decided that The Cornish Crisp would only be sold to Waitrose's Cornwall and Devon stores and independent, ethical and high quality businesses. The power of reputation was recently proved when a large national café chain recently contacted the company asking if they would be allowed to sell the Cornish Crisp. The commitment to an ethical business model also included choosing to bank with The Co-operative Bank.

While being Cornish was well understood by local designers, who came up with the wonderful golden potato print idea, they did not understand what was meant by being PR led. They thought it meant pretending that the crisp is healthy… When it was explained that reputations have to be built on telling the truth there was much confusion but as with many long design debates, the honest packaging was sorted in the end.

With the product perfected to the highest quality, packaging designed and all the policies in place, it was time to launch the Cornish Crisp. Cornish 'Crispmas' Day was devised for the launch in June 2009 and is to be an annual celebration when key publics including customers, community groups, the local media and food writers are invited to view the factory, celebrate the launch of new flavours or products and to catch up on what has been happening throughout the year. MP for South East Cornwall, Colin Breed said at Cornish 'Crispmas' Day in 2009:

To start a business in recession is very brave thing to do but I can see that this is a fantastic product that is sure to do well and it is clear that social responsibility is ingrained in the company and not just used as a PR add-on, which separates it out from many others on the market.

Different communication methods are used throughout the year to keep publics informed of what The Cornish Crisp Company has been getting up to, these include newsworthy stories being sent to local and specialist media, the use of facebook and twitter, the website and a quarterly newsletter to charities and customers.