Salt Production in Cornwall - Continuing the Legacy

At Cornish Sea Salt, we have been producing our famous crystals, and more recently flakes, smoked sea salt and other delicious concoctions, since 2008, but the history of salt production on the South Coast of Cornwall goes back a lot further. When our founder, Tony Fraser, stumbled upon an Iron Age salt works in Coverack (just around the corner from Pol Gwarra - pictured below) he was astonished that the business of harvesting sea salt in Cornwall was no longer a thriving industry, and he knew that he had to do something to bring it back to life.

The Cornish sea salt business initially died out in 1860 when rock salt started to be mined in Cheshire, but before this sea salt was an invaluable element of Cornwall’s pilchard fishing industry. Using salt to preserve the fish meant it stayed fresher for longer, and profits for fishermen were higher in turn. Sites all over the South Coast, namely near Helston, where the water is of the purest & most mineral-rich quality, were left unused and over time the Cornish community became used to importing their salt from other parts of the country.

Tony couldn’t believe it - this beautiful water, boasting a profile of over 60 minerals (3 times as many as the Dead Sea), and nobody was utilising it for its delicious magnesium-rich salt. He saw an opportunity to bring back sea salt production to Cornwall, and that’s where the Cornish Sea Salt you know and love began. We use age-old traditional salt making techniques alongside innovate harvesting methods that make us more sustainable and ethically sound, and we’re proud to be bringing our hand-harvested salt from the A-grade waters of the Lizard to over 33 countries, and your kitchen table, every day.