Provenance of Menu Items
Discussion
Oddly was thinking about this reading some local menus when i saw a tweet in my feed from an Irish Farm asking Guinness to remove their name from a menu item in one of their bars/pubs/restaurants, as they had never supplied them any Lamb and don't sell to trade.
What, other than honesty, is in place to hold to account an eatery's claims on the provenance of its menu items?
or can they just make up any claims and hope no one catches them out.
and what is someone catches them, is there any recourse other than just the removal of the suppliers name? (in the responses to the aforementioned tweet, a potato farmer claimed a michelin starred restaurant whom they did not supply had done the same with them and it took repeated and lengthy requests to remove their name from the menu).
i though this would be more of a problem at the lower end of the market, but seems not as per alleged michelin comments.
there are 2 threads here too i guess, one where a sepcific supplier is mentioned, and one where a geographic area is...a supplier is very black and white, you either use them or dont, but what denotes a cornish mussel for example. one purchased there (that could have been grown anywhere but was in tesco's for examples) or one grown there?
What, other than honesty, is in place to hold to account an eatery's claims on the provenance of its menu items?
or can they just make up any claims and hope no one catches them out.
and what is someone catches them, is there any recourse other than just the removal of the suppliers name? (in the responses to the aforementioned tweet, a potato farmer claimed a michelin starred restaurant whom they did not supply had done the same with them and it took repeated and lengthy requests to remove their name from the menu).
i though this would be more of a problem at the lower end of the market, but seems not as per alleged michelin comments.
there are 2 threads here too i guess, one where a sepcific supplier is mentioned, and one where a geographic area is...a supplier is very black and white, you either use them or dont, but what denotes a cornish mussel for example. one purchased there (that could have been grown anywhere but was in tesco's for examples) or one grown there?
The only instance of prosecution I have first hand knowledge of is where someone claimed "organic" and it wasn't. £50K fine!!
Other than that I think its probably more likely to be down to trade description??
I suspect a hell of a lot of artistic license is used, especially when using the term "local"
Other than that I think its probably more likely to be down to trade description??
I suspect a hell of a lot of artistic license is used, especially when using the term "local"
21TonyK said:
The only instance of prosecution I have first hand knowledge of is where someone claimed "organic" and it wasn't. £50K fine!!
Other than that I think its probably more likely to be down to trade description??
I suspect a hell of a lot of artistic license is used, especially when using the term "local"
Quite. Especially where the supplier is 'local' but the producer thousands of miles away.Other than that I think its probably more likely to be down to trade description??
I suspect a hell of a lot of artistic license is used, especially when using the term "local"
Where I work we list the local ingredients on a chalkboard in the dining room, as we are proud to support local artisan producers.
However I appreciate there's an element of trust on behalf of the customer that what is served is accurately described.
But perhaps not, when many of the producers are also regulars.
theplayingmantis said:
Oddly was thinking about this reading some local menus when i saw a tweet in my feed from an Irish Farm asking Guinness to remove their name from a menu item in one of their bars/pubs/restaurants, as they had never supplied them any Lamb and don't sell to trade....
Would there be anything to have stopped that pub's chef going to a shop and buying some produce themselves, non-trade?To the wider point, I wonder how much most people really care, and whether suppliers like the above are shooting themselves in the foot.
If I see "potted Morecombe Bay shrimp" or "Maldon sea salt baked cod" on a menu, I'm not sure I'll give much of a care if the actual prawns on my plate or salt on the cod are from there. I'll be there to enjoy myself and eat good food - if the food tastes great then I'll be happy.
Moreover, when pottering around the supermarket or visiting Lancashire it's possible I might make a b-line for those products. So whether the restaurant is using the actual produce or not, the vendor gets free advertising that is far more likely to work (for me at least) than a page in Good Housekeeping or an ad' on the TV.
There are lines to be drawn of course - if I'm sold 30-day aged beef and I get some insipid, tough innersole piece of meat that tastes carp...or corn fed chicken and I get some grey mush then I'd not be happy...and I guess if that was tagged with a supplier's name it could have a negative impact. So the flipside might also be true (and I could understand a supplier being unhappy).
Like the above, I guess we operate on trust mostly at the moment. But also I would expect if a supplier is savvy they will be able to protect their name and enforce it. And the days of Twitter/Facebook/etc mean that may be easier than it used to be. I would fully expect Heston to get the hump if a supplier emblazoned "Fat Duck supplier" all over their website/ads without permission So the same should apply in reverse
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