CHEFS have discussed the importance of turning to local produce amid rising food prices at the annual Local Produce Trade Show.
The Business South event took place inside the lavish ballroom at The Ageas Bowl’s Hilton Hotel.
An eight-strong panel - featuring among others Luke Matthews, Executive Head Chef at the Chewton Glen Hotel and Luke Holder, Executive Head Chef at the New Forest’s Lime Wood Hotel, were put under the microscope on increasing food prices, the importance of local ingredients, and how the restaurant business has been affected post Covid-19.
Mr Holder told the audience: “I think the reality is, we’ve been underpaying for food for too long, so we’ve got to carry on and support local businesses, people just have to pay for it.
“That’s the cold reality of the business we’re in right now.
“We have to weaponise compassion.
“I think the one thing that feels like it’s sweeping rapidly is a division happening between providing food for the necessity of eating and then providing food for enjoyment.”
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The increase in food prices amid the ongoing cost-of-living crisis has seen attention turn to local suppliers for home-grown ingredients.
Steve Lewis, General Manager of Lainston House Hotel in Winchester, said: “We’re all recovering from a pretty awful couple of years.
“I don’t think it’s controversial to say that I think it’s expected now for chefs to be using local ingredients.
“I think it’s better for food cost, it’s better for training staff and it’s better for creating experiences for our guests.
“This is what we should be doing, and the emphasis is on us.
“It’s a lot easier to get resources from five miles down the road than it is from the other side of the world.”
Jamie Holmes, Executive Head Chef at Hilton’s Ageas Bowl, added: “It’s really important to us that we buy ingredients both locally and fresh where we can.
“It’s important that we get the best stuff on our hands as customers look towards local businesses.
“The local produce that we get in Hampshire gives us so much depth in quality nowadays that we don’t need to import products from Spain like we used to.”
The event also saw the panellists discuss staff retainment in a post Brexit and Covid world that has seen many establishments lose staff and, in some cases, close down completely.
The Head Chef of Oakley Hall, Jacob Rowley told onlookers: “We treat our staff like a family.
“We’re one big family where our passion is food.”
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