Fentenfenna Food Hub
FENTENFENNA FARM CIC
FENTENFENNA FOOD HUB
Connecting good food with people and places.
Good food should reach the people who need it. Local growers should have dependable routes to market. And food that can still be eaten should stay in the food system.
At Fentenfenna, we bring together practical facilities, local knowledge and partnerships to help make this happen. Our Food Hub supports food recovery and redistribution across Cornwall, while we work with partners on the next stage: a more connected local food system.
Food recovery & redistribution.
The hub provides a shared base for recovering surplus food and getting it to charities and community organisations. Working with partners including FareShare Southwest and Gleaning Cornwall, this helps good food reach people instead of going to waste.
Storage, cold storage and coordinated distribution are essential parts of this work. Behind every delivery are relationships between growers, food businesses, volunteers and organisations supporting their communities.
This established work gives us a practical foundation for the next stage. We want to build on what already exists, connect services more effectively and help more locally grown food reach local people.
The next stage for local food
We are developing a Mid-Cornwall Food Hub pilot with growers, buyers and community partners. It will explore how shared facilities and better coordination can strengthen the journey from field to plate.
The pilot will focus on small growers who farm in ways that work with nature, supporting healthy soil, biodiversity and local livelihoods. Many grow excellent food but face barriers in storing it, transporting it and reaching reliable buyers. Community organisations and local businesses can also struggle to find consistent supplies of local produce.
The aim is to connect these needs, using existing activity and infrastructure wherever possible. The pilot is being developed with partners; ordering, delivery and trading arrangements are still to be agreed.
What we want to make easier:
Growers reaching local buyers
Clearer routes to market and shared logistics.
Community food organisations
Accessing fresh local produce alongside recovered surplus.
Partners working together
Coordinating storage and distribution, reducing duplicated journeys.
Local enterprises
Adding value through processing and creating opportunities to learn and work.
A practical base at Fentenfenna
Fentenfenna Farm CIC provides a place where food, community and enterprise can come together. The farm offers a base for partners, with storage and cold storage, space for food-related activity and connections to growing and local enterprise.
Our role in the developing pilot is to help provide the place, facilities and relationships that enable collaboration. Governance, staffing, transport and day-to-day delivery will be shaped with the partners involved.
Making more of the food we grow
Processing can help keep seasonal gluts in use and create products that support local livelihoods. Activity at Fentenfenna already includes apples being made into cider through Wasted Apple. The wider hub plans explore further opportunities to process local produce and make better use of surplus.
We also want the hub to create opportunities for practical learning, volunteering and work experience. These will develop alongside the pilot and the needs of the people and organisations taking part.
Explore the thinking behind the food hub
Paper 04 in our Place-Based Systems Series explains the Food Hub pilot and how it connects with the wider work at Fentenfenna. Visit Our Approach to explore all five papers, or download the full series to read more.
Get involved
We would like to hear from people and organisations who want to help build a stronger local food system:
Growers and food producers, buyers, charities and community organisations, people interested in volunteering or practical learning, and partners and funders who can help develop the pilot.
Tell us a little about your work, what you need and how you would like to get involved. We can discuss what is possible now and where there may be opportunities as the pilot develops.