AND WE ASK, HOW MUCH IS THE RSPCA PAYING THESE CHEFS TO PROMOTE "FREEDOM FOODS " ?
Celebrity chefs such Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Jamie Oliver are "patronising" shoppers on a tight budget, according to Andy Bond, head of Asda, one of Britain's biggest supermarket groups.
Andy Bond, the group's chief executive, has launched a stinging attack on celebrity chefs, claiming they are out of touch with real shoppers, many of whom do not have enough money to pay for better-quality food.
His attack, which is published as an editorial in the Grocer magazine, follows Channel 4's latest series, Great British Food Fight, which featured separate programmes from Fearnley-Whittingstall, Oliver as well Heston Blumenthal and Gordon Ramsay.
Many of the programmes involved the chefs persuading consumers to pay more for higher quality food.
Mr Bond argues that while most customers like higher-welfare and locally-sourced food, but they "can't afford to pay more for" ethical food.
He writes: "It sticks in my throat a little when highly paid celebrity chefs make sweeping assumptions about what people can afford, and preach to them about how they should choose to spend their hard-earned money."
In Blumenthal's programme, the Michelin-starred chef revamped the fare at the Little Chef chain of restaurants, attempting to put braised ox cheeks on the menu.
Oliver's programme, "Jamie Saves our Bacon", called on shoppers to spend more buying British pork, rather than cheaper cuts shipped in from Europe, where animal welfare standards are often not so high.
Most of his ire is directed at Fearnley-Whittingstall, whose programme centred on his battle during 2008 to encourage Tesco to improved the welfare standards of its basic chickens.
Viewers saw Fearnley-Whittingstall fail to garner enough votes at Tesco's annual general meeting to force the company to change its policy. It also involved Hugh struggling to persuade Hayley, a single mother, to spend £1 more by buying Freedom Food chicken, a label certified by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
"Was I the only one who found Hugh's manner patronising to the single mum who should pay more for higher welfare chicken?" Mr Bond writes.
"I'd like to see the reception he'd get if he joined me on an accompanied shop or customer listening group – not on camera so it turns into a pantomime – but so he can get closer to the challenges real people, ultimately his audience or customers, face on a daily basis.
"Without a dose of reality the celebrity chefs many hold so dear risk losing touch, and disappearing into obscurity. Which will no doubt hurt them even more than the thought of too many chickens being crammed into a shed."
During 2008 food prices climbed very steeply because of the global surge in commodity prices, squeezing many families' shopping budgets. While food prices are starting to fall sharply, with it possible now to find a loaf of bread for less than 50p, most items, especially meat, remains much more expensive than a year ago.
Food inflation is still running at 10.4 per cent, and though British Gas has trimmed some of its customers’ bills earlier this month, the average gas bill is still about £230 higher than a year ago. With many families fearing for their jobs as the recession deepens, there are increasing signs that consumers are trying to cut back on their spending in order to reduce their household bills.
The think tank Centre for Economics and Business Research calculates that the average family has £4 less disposable income a week than a year ago.
Tesco said it was sympathetic towards Mr Bond's views.
"It's important for Tesco to offer a range of meat for people on a tight budget," a spokesman said.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/foodanddrinknews/4399037/Hugh-Fearnley-Whittingstall-patronising-customers-Asda-boss-says.html
Andy Bond, the group's chief executive, has launched a stinging attack on celebrity chefs, claiming they are out of touch with real shoppers, many of whom do not have enough money to pay for better-quality food.
His attack, which is published as an editorial in the Grocer magazine, follows Channel 4's latest series, Great British Food Fight, which featured separate programmes from Fearnley-Whittingstall, Oliver as well Heston Blumenthal and Gordon Ramsay.
Many of the programmes involved the chefs persuading consumers to pay more for higher quality food.
Mr Bond argues that while most customers like higher-welfare and locally-sourced food, but they "can't afford to pay more for" ethical food.
He writes: "It sticks in my throat a little when highly paid celebrity chefs make sweeping assumptions about what people can afford, and preach to them about how they should choose to spend their hard-earned money."
In Blumenthal's programme, the Michelin-starred chef revamped the fare at the Little Chef chain of restaurants, attempting to put braised ox cheeks on the menu.
Oliver's programme, "Jamie Saves our Bacon", called on shoppers to spend more buying British pork, rather than cheaper cuts shipped in from Europe, where animal welfare standards are often not so high.
Most of his ire is directed at Fearnley-Whittingstall, whose programme centred on his battle during 2008 to encourage Tesco to improved the welfare standards of its basic chickens.
Viewers saw Fearnley-Whittingstall fail to garner enough votes at Tesco's annual general meeting to force the company to change its policy. It also involved Hugh struggling to persuade Hayley, a single mother, to spend £1 more by buying Freedom Food chicken, a label certified by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
"Was I the only one who found Hugh's manner patronising to the single mum who should pay more for higher welfare chicken?" Mr Bond writes.
"I'd like to see the reception he'd get if he joined me on an accompanied shop or customer listening group – not on camera so it turns into a pantomime – but so he can get closer to the challenges real people, ultimately his audience or customers, face on a daily basis.
"Without a dose of reality the celebrity chefs many hold so dear risk losing touch, and disappearing into obscurity. Which will no doubt hurt them even more than the thought of too many chickens being crammed into a shed."
During 2008 food prices climbed very steeply because of the global surge in commodity prices, squeezing many families' shopping budgets. While food prices are starting to fall sharply, with it possible now to find a loaf of bread for less than 50p, most items, especially meat, remains much more expensive than a year ago.
Food inflation is still running at 10.4 per cent, and though British Gas has trimmed some of its customers’ bills earlier this month, the average gas bill is still about £230 higher than a year ago. With many families fearing for their jobs as the recession deepens, there are increasing signs that consumers are trying to cut back on their spending in order to reduce their household bills.
The think tank Centre for Economics and Business Research calculates that the average family has £4 less disposable income a week than a year ago.
Tesco said it was sympathetic towards Mr Bond's views.
"It's important for Tesco to offer a range of meat for people on a tight budget," a spokesman said.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/foodanddrinknews/4399037/Hugh-Fearnley-Whittingstall-patronising-customers-Asda-boss-says.html
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