SPRING HAS SPRUNG hopefully

As you read this article l am hopeful that some of the crazy happenings that we came across at the back end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023 have eased slightly. Maybe back to normal… mmm maybe that’s too optimistic!

We all remember the media telling us that there was a chance we wouldn’t be getting our Christmas turkeys, due to the outbreak of bird flu. Then come December there weren’t the issues we had been expecting. Poultry farms in Kent and Sussex recorded no cases of bird flu, but prices increased anyway.

In February, l received an email from one of my fish suppliers informing me the price of Scottish salmon had risen by 70% overnight on top of the 2022 increase of 40%. MORI, one of the biggest salmon farmers in Europe, had revealed they had made £1billion profit from a turnover of £6 billion in one year!! Cartels and governments were mentioned as possible reasons.

The snows and hard frost came in the same month and in one week cauliflowers were costing us £4.95 each. Tomatoes jumped from £12.00 per box to £20.00, and a single yellow courgette was £4.03!

British produce is what we are about and how we follow the seasons is very important to the construction of the Club menus. Our aim is to look at everything from breakfast to dinner and implement some necessary changes that won’t impact on your experience here, but further promote what the British Isles are about – quality produce! Dealing with massive daily price fluctuations has made for very challenging times for the Kitchen team, especially with the on-going development of dishes using only seasonal products.

Some of the Kitchen team have been with us a while now and some are new to the industry and/or new to The Farmers Club. Each bring their own skills to the collaborative approach of creating new dishes in the kitchen, it is very much a team effort. Initial creation, discussion, alteration, re-creation, discussion, maybe further re-creation, job done!

Our challenge is to make your experience at the Club as enjoyable as possible. Whilst offering wonderful British produce, great wine and of course that home from home atmosphere that our Food & Beverage Manager, Jelle and his service team create.

Enjoy! Chef