Are you local? The great debate

Just how local is local food? The question was debated by panellists and VIP guests at the Pub Catering Trends Forum at Publican Live.

Data from The Publican Food Report 2007 shows that 63 per cent of pubs use 'local' on menus or blackboards to describe at least one dish. However, every pub may have a different definition of the term.

Panellist Rob Mcfarlane, director of meat and poultry at Prime Meats, described how the company is working with pub groups such as Orchid to source meat for its carveries from farms close to the individual pubs.

In other cases, though, Prime Meats advises pubs to use descriptions such as 'British beef' or 'Welsh lamb' on menus, supported by easily recognisable badges of quality such as Red Tractor and the EBLEX and BPEX quality standards.

Peter Backman of analysts Horizons for Success said that is an increasingly competitive market, where pubs are competing with quick service outlets as well as restaurants, there is a greater need than ever for pubs to understand customer aspirations in areas such as sustainability, food miles, and local produce.

Mirielle Pierrevelcin of Food From Britain identified provenance as a key global trend, with premium British food products gaining credibility in emerging food markets such as India and China.

Pub Food Editor John Porter, who introduced the forum, asked why British specialities could not always command the same respect domestically as they do abroad.

The audience, which included representatives from pub groups including Punch Taverns, Enterprise Inns, Whitbread and Orchid Groups, as well as smaller groups and individual publicans, came up with many different definitions of 'local'.

These ranged from one pub which sourced meat from used a farm that backed onto its garden, to pub groups using 'British' as a menu definition.

The Pub Catering Trends Forum was sponsored by Brakes, and presented in association with the ALMR and Food From Britain.