Welcome to Blackthorn Co-vid Re-jig
Who would have thought our very first Blackthorn blog would have such a title? Don’t worry this is not meant to be a gloomy diatribe, but an introduction into how our new way of thinking and approach has come about and hopefully offer a Blackthorn Salt-style ray of hope…
Old plans lost in the pandemic quagmire
Mirroring the rest of the country’s aspirations, the Blackthorn Launch plans, press releases, introductions and so on, well and truly ground to a halt before they had a chance to start in March 2020.
Our beautiful freshly restored carriage, from which we hoped to host visitors and hide from the elements, was just finished and ready for its first guests. Our salt was neatly piled, ready to fill the first load of bespoke 100% sustainable, recyclable and fully user-friendly Blackthorn branded boxes (apologies banging on about that, but we are so proud of the final box – who knew it would be a nigh impossible challenge to find an environmentally friendly solution for salt packaging that was desirable to have beside one’s cooker?). So, yes, the official launch plan with its traditional series of events, press and otherwise, throughout April never came to pass, a sad thing, but nothing compared to some.
Lockdown
The obvious course of action was to shut down all Blackthorn activity until later on – after all, it seemed a little crass to ask people to think about gourmet sea salt when there were weighty, horrific things to worry about. We swiftly concluded that the pandemic loss incurred at Blackthorn would have to be borne and, in the light of everything else, so long as everyone stayed safe, that was what counted.
Stuck in standstill, it was a stark and humbling realisation to see that so few had to carry the burden of the nation on their shoulders and there is very little that the rest of us can do to support them.
Very little… but it recently dawned on us that there is perhaps just a bit, and we might actually be able to contribute to the rainbows, the smiles and hope in a small way after all.
Blackthorn Co-vid Re-jig
Everyone needs salt in some shape or form, and there is a lot of cooking/experimentation going on at the moment and amazing people providing meals and support for other amazing people who don’t have the time. In the meantime, we have a lot of gorgeous British sea salt stocked and ready to go, our salters are still working to keep our equipment up to scratch (outside and at a good distance from each other). Why not release what we have? For general enjoyment, for fun and for free.
Our first premise was quickly identified: we are not looking for profit, nor even to cover our losses. We simply want to raise some spirits if we can, because the salt is available just now, sitting in a warehouse. We ask nothing of you other than you enjoy using the Salt if you find yourself with a box and, if you like, we’d love to know your thoughts.
Free: Pass the Salt
In the spirit of Co-vid 19 re-jig, we have sent out 19 boxes of our very first batch to people who were meant to come and visit pre-launch or expressed a particular interest in what we have been doing. With their Box, we added the ability to pass on some boxes of Blackthorn Salt for free to friends, who, in turn would also have some free Blackthorn tickets to pass on and so on. We are interested to see where our wee boxes end up, but there are no catches or strings attached other than the hope that this batch of Blackthorn Salt will brighten peoples’ days and encourage some smiles amongst friends and fun cooking stories during this strange time.
Free: Support Salt
Some of this batch will also be sent out, in our larger tubs, again for free, to some of those kitchens providing support meals for key workers. This initiative has no expectations, but a hope that Black thorn Salt may be of some use and bring a smile or at least an interesting diversion for people whose days are so intense.
Free and we will donate: Community / Charity Salt
The final stage of our re-jig is to release the rest of this first batch of Blackthorn Salt for sale at the cost of the postage alone. The premise is still that we are not looking for profit, nor even to cover our losses, in fact, we decided that for every box we sell for the cost of postage, we will donate the cost of the salt directly to the following food and co-vid related charities.
So, there you have it, the Blackthorn Co-Vid re-jig – it makes little to no business sense, but feels right.
Please take it as it is, there is no catch: we have not been able to do much other than sit tight during this pandemic, but finally we are ready and able to do a little, with the hope that Blackthorn can raise a smile and contribute a wee bit to some of the incredible and brave things that have been going on out there.
Take care, I sincerely hope, if some lands on your doorstep that you enjoy Blackthorn Salt,
Gregorie,
Master Salter