Staff at the new Rowe’s counter in Penryn’s Asda were joined by special guest and local Conservative parliamentary candidate Sarah Newton, who declared the concession officially open today (26 February).

The counter, which serves Rowe’s freshly baked savouries such as pasties, sausage rolls and slices, has been open to shoppers since 17 February but the official celebrations were held the following week to celebrate the first 10 days of trading and give staff the chance to settle into their new surroundings. It is only the second branded bakery counter Asda has opened anywhere in the country, with a first Rowe’s concession having been launched in St Austell last summer. It has created several new local jobs, as it is staffed entirely by Rowe’s own employees, separate to the Asda bakers.

“Although we’ve been open for just over a week now, we wanted to do something special to officially mark the opening,” said Paul Pearce, Director of Marketing for Rowe’s. “As well as the ribbon cutting today we’ve been handing out balloons and special offer leaflets to customers to welcome them to the concession. We’ve had an excellent first few days trading and look forward to welcoming lots more of Penryn’s Asda shoppers to the Rowe’s counter in the future.”

“I was very pleased to be invited by Rowe’s to cut the ribbon at this new concession,” added Sarah Newton. “It is incredibly encouraging to see a Cornish business that is continuing to grow during challenging times. Plus, I am a great fan of Rowe’s pasties, and have even had a go at hand-crimping some myself when I visited one of the production facilities last year, so I know the level of skill and commitment that goes into making them!”

Mrs Newton was joined by staff from Rowe’s and Asda, as well as Rowe’s very own special guest – its officially pasty mascot. Bakers from the Cornish firm had also crafted another (much more appetising!) giant pasty to mark the occasion, representing the many locally sourced ingredients found in the Rowe’s products on offer at the counter.

Asda store manager Steve Smith said: “Relationships with local food producers are extremely important to us and our expanding partnership with Rowe’s means that shoppers get the chance to buy savoury snacks that are freshly baked on the premises by a company with over 60 years of Cornish heritage behind it. The similar counter in St Austell has proved very popular and we know that ‘buying local’ is important to our customers, so we’re delighted that we’re able to add to their shopping experience in this way.”

ENDS

Picture captions:

Pic 3: (LtoR) Mark Millbank (Asda Account Manager), Sarah Newton Jon Foster (Rowe’s Account Manager) Howard Jones (Rowe’s) & Brian Nelson (Rowe’s)

Pic 5: (LtoR) Mark Millbank (Asda Account Manager), Sarah Newton Jon Foster (Rowe’s Account Manager)

Rowe’s Bakery

Notes to Editors:

W C Rowe (Rowe’s Bakery) was established in 1949 in Falmouth, Cornwall. The company has 18 of its own retail outlets and three concessions within Asda stores in the South West. It also supplies Rowe’s branded and own label products to national retailers and supermarkets throughout the UK.

2nd March 2010