Food success comes from £5m spend on local produce, says Devon pub owner

By Nicholas Robinson

- Last updated on GMT

Head chef Matthew Mason (front left) and owner Paul Parnell (front right) and team
Head chef Matthew Mason (front left) and owner Paul Parnell (front right) and team

Related tags Chef Raymond blanc

A Devon pub owner has claimed part of his business’s success is down to a multimillion pound spend on local produce.

The Jack in the Green, Rockbeare, Devon, had spent more than £5m on local produce since opening 24 years ago, according to owner Paul Parnell and head chef Matthew Mason.

A further £2m had also been spent on local drinks and more than £1m had been pumped into a new kitchen, function room and a restaurant extension, according to the pair.

The pub, which is 26th​ on the Estrella Damm Top 50 Gastropubs list and was awarded a Michelin Bib Gourmand earlier this year for offering outstanding value for money, spent more than £250,000 with local growers, producers and suppliers last year alone.

‘Dilapidated roadside pub’

Parnell said: “When we bought this dilapidated roadside pub at the start of a recession, and with the A30 about to be rerouted, a lot of people thought we were crazy.

“Now, as a team of 30 and after nearly a quarter of a century in business, we are able to cater for literally anything.”

Local producers were a “massive part” of that success and many of them had also grown as a result of the pub’s business with them, he added.

To celebrate local produce, the pub has a ‘Totally Devon’ menu, which costs £25 for three courses and features the best local produce that’s in season.

Totally Devon dishes include:

  • Celeriac and apple soup
  • Pressed ham hock terrine with piccalilli
  • Boned and rolled mead braised Kenniford Farm belly pork, butternut puree and amoretti crumble
  • Line caught Cornish cod fillet with mild creamy curried muscles

The Jack in the Green’s real ales are also sourced from within 10 miles of the pub, the most popular of which is Otter Ale.

Last month top French chef Raymond Blanc urged other chefs to do more to source local produce​ and to capitalise on doing so by labelling products as local on menus.

Blanc’s call came during British Food Fortnight, which ran from 19 September to 4 October.

He said: “This is an opportunity for producers, processors, retailers, caterers and consumers to join together in connecting more people with that they eat and drink, and increasing the opportunity at every level to choose healthy, seasonal, local produce.”

Related topics Beer Menu Ideas News Other operators

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