You will find at the core of any successful global brand a very few individuals who have ingrained in them the DNA of that organisation. Whatever the pulp that grows out from this core, they are responsible for ensuring the purity of that fruit. Daniel Newland is one such individual within the Jamie Oliver empire. You might say he is Jamie's right hand man. Perhaps the Jamie brand is growing too many fruits because one appears a little rotten.
I could not agree more with his comment on the Jamie Oliver website:
Yet based on this advice you woud decide not to eat at any of his Itialian restaurants. His menus do not cite suppliers, breeds, welfare creeds nor farms. It just MEAT. The pork and steaks do not even carry a country.
And “British’ is too often a catchall for anything - it is very misleading as the butcher of course may be British but so what? We know most catering meat is foreign sourced.
If Jamie Oliver cannot put into practice his own preaching, then what hope do we have of other restaurants? Why can he not name the farm? If it is foreign, at least state the country. Be transparent.
His steaks do not carry any ‘British’ tag so we must assume these will be foreign, as over 50% of steaks in restaurants are. In which case, he should name the country as most imported steaks - from Argentina, Namibia, Brazil, Botswana etc. - are from intensive feed lots where tens of thousands of cattle are fattened on soya diets with growth hormones. I know someone who cannot dine out on steak unless being sure of its provenance because she is a coeliac.
Walk the talk, Jamie!
Too many chefs appear too consumed by monetising their own brands, lending their name to yet another restaurant chain or trending food style, while ignoring any reference to the supply chain that puts the food on the plate.
These are the observations and opinions of Happerley Co-founder Matthew Rymer and do not necessarilly represent the opinions of Happerley.