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Our History

Andy Atkinson arrived at Westnorth Manor Farm with his herd of dairy cattle in the spring of 1992. The farm is part of the Duchy of Cornwall Estate.

Drawing motivation from Cornwall Council’s project to save, rejuvenate and replant traditional apple orchards, and wanting to encourage birds and wildlife, Andy planted three orchards on the farm. Soon, he had one of the largest collections of Cornish apple varieties in the county, creating the perfect wildlife habitat.

Enthused by his new crop full of exciting, intriguing flavours, Andy juiced and blended, then hand labelled his first Cornish apple juices. With this success and the introduction of his first Cornish Orchards cider, Andy took the leap to diversify from dairy farming to juice and cider making and threw his wellies away!

Today we are a passionate team of over 25 local staff, working hard to create full-of-flavour, whole fruit drinks and award-winning ciders, to serve both locally, nationally and even internationally.

We also continue to be relentless innovators. Our goal is to produce premium ciders and fruit juices using the best methods and ingredients possible. We constantly strive to bring products to our consumers that can be appreciated for their outstanding flavour and quality.

 

Why Cornish Orchards? What makes us different?

In Detail

Cornish Orchards uses freshly pressed apples that have been grown around the South West (Somerset, Devon and Cornwall) that are hand-graded and pressed on site.

Another big factor that sets Cornish Orchards aside from bigger players in the cider industry is that it does not force the fermentation period using temperature-control technology. Instead, opting to harness the cool, ambient temperatures of Cornwall’s winter months for maximum fermentation time yielding high-quality flavour. The cider is then matured in tank where, over time flavour and aroma develops and the youthful, austerity of cider softens providing vintage style qualities as the base of our range of ciders.

The cider makers never cut corners when it comes to the cider-making process. After a fine filtration, they then hand-blend each batch, making sure it’s consistent in flavour and quality.

Basically, we take our time and let nature do what she does best, which locks in the flavour and avoids us having to add in nasties to make our products taste good.

 

Company timeline:

1992

Andy Atkinson arrives at Westnorth Manor Farm with his dairy cattle & plants 3 small orchards

1999

The orchards mature, Andy juices and blends his first Cornish apple juices to great success.

2002

Our first cider is produced! The dairy herd is sold to concentrate on juice and cider production.

2013

Fuller’s recognises Cornish Orchards’ similar ethos of passion and dedication to creating the finest products, purchasing the company

2017

Today, a passionate team of over 35 staff work hard to create premium, natural soft drinks and award-winning ciders

Today

Asahi start the process of buying Fullers Beer Co. and flag Cornish Orchards as an exciting brand of the future for its strength as a local brand and it’s potential as a premium offering.

 

INGREDIENTS

  • Our cider is crafted from 100% fresh pressed apple juice.
  • All our products are created using the finest ingredients, but it is important to know if these ingredients are suited to your dietary requirements.
  •  Our ciders and soft drinks are suitable for vegetarians and vegans.
  •  Cornish Orchards ciders do contain sulphites, which is an antioxidant vital for maintaining freshness.
  • We only use natural sugars, no artificial colours, flavours or sweeteners.

 

PROCESS

  • We press, ferment, mature and package everything on our site in Duloe Cornwall.
  • We do not force maturation through temperature control. We achieve maximum flavour by maturing at ambient temperatures over the cool Cornish winter months.
  • Apples are hand graded and checked as they go through the press.
  • We hand blend every batch to ensure consistency in flavour and quality.

 

SALSA ACCREDITED

  • We are proud to be accredited with Safe and Local Supplier Approval (SALSA), a credit to the high standards we maintain throughout the business.