TWO brothers have won a six-figure deal to supply Cornish crab to a leading supermarket.

Richard Corner and Neville Pittman have launched their range of sustainable handpicked crab at Waitrose in a move expected to grow their business by a massive 70%.

The road to success has been difficult and taken years of hard work. Mr Pittman, a crab fisherman, had a serious accident at sea while working at Newlyn in West Cornwall several years ago, which left him unable to fish.

Mr Corner, who had quit his job in corporate sales in London to go backpacking, moved to Cornwall to look after his brother. Both sharing a passion for seafood, they realised there was a gap in the market for high-quality fresh English crab.

In 2002, while the Fishermen's Mission – which provides support and care to working, retired and disabled fishermen – helped them with their grocery bills, they netted funding and equipment from the Prince's Trust and set up their business, Seafood & Eat It, in Newlyn.

Waitrose seafood buyer Melissa Spiro was impressed by the brand. She said: “The Seafood & Eat It range is the best quality crab I have tasted in my six years working in the seafood industry. The brothers' ready-to-eat crab is the perfect solution for busy shoppers who don't have the time or know-how to prepare fresh crab themselves.

“And with chefs such as Gordon Ramsay making crab more accessible for home cooking, the range will be a real catch for our customers.”

Mr Corner said: “When Melissa said yes, I was a bit shell-shocked. Getting our products onto the shelves of a supermarket like Waitrose is a dream come true.

“When Neville and I founded Seafood & Eat It six years ago, we set out to champion crab and rejoice in the fact that it is found in abundance around our coastline. We are committed to offering shoppers a real taste of the English seaside wherever they are.”

The brothers had been supplying pubs and restaurants in Cornwall with crab for several years before securing the Waitrose deal.

article copyright THE CORNISHMAN

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