Island Life Magazine Ltd December 2006/January 2007 | Page 71

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Market is
wide open for
farmers and
producers
We’ve been asking around at Island
restaurants in a bid to find out why some chefs
choose not to make the most of local produce
– and the reasons very quickly became clear.
With so many great growers,
farmers and food producers on this
Island, it’s a wonder our restaurants
need to look any further for their
supplies. So why do so many
still source produce from further
afield? And will the day ever
come when local ingredients are
top of the caterers’ shopping lists?
It would be nice to think so – but
as we have found, there are a few
issues that need ironing out before
that can happen.
Talking to restaurant owners
across the Island, a common view
seems to be that if the farmers
and producers want to sell their
produce then they need to go out
and really “sell it” to the Island’s
caterers.
Head Chef Paul Clark from
the Pointer Inn, Newchurch
commented: I work almost 80
hours a week, so I don’t have the
time to chase suppliers. Therefore,
if local farmers and producers wish

to supply me, then I’d ask them
please to come and see me.
“Another factor is price, at the
end of the day I run a business
which has to be profitable, but in
some cases, local food has been
three times more expensive than
what I normally pay, and our
customers simply would not stand
for this.
“So if the price is right and the
producers can come to see me I
would gladly include even more
local produce into my menu. At
the moment, I have F