A marriage made in Devon: Organic pub in tie-up with West Country supplier

The Duke of Cambridge, in Islington, north London will offer a much more ‘vegetable-focused’ menu, when the deal with Devon-based Riverford Organic Farms starts on 7 November.

Geetie Singh, who opened the pub in 1998, married Riverford boss Guy Watson in June.

Singh told PubFood​ that the tie up would mean the pub can offer greater choice of vegetables, many of which will be presented as dishes to share.

She explained: “Although we will still have meat and fish on the menu, they will be be served separately from the vegetables."

“So, you’ll order whatever meat or fish you want for yourself, and then everyone will share the vegetables in the middle of the table. People are moving towards that kind of dining a lot more – it gives customers the greater flexibility and choice that they clearly want.”

Local suppliers​

Singh, who was awarded an MBE for her services to the organic pub trade in 2009, will continue to source organic food from local suppliers – with wholesalers most likely to be the ones that make way.

She added that the deal with Riverford would actually increase the number of suppliers the pub uses.

“Riverford doesn’t just grow its own produce – it buys produce from local farms and works with a number of co-operatives. So our pool of suppliers will actually be much greater.

“Consequently, I think we will be more seasonal than we currently are. If you’re buying from very small suppliers around London, very often they can’t produce strawberries, raspberries or asparagus.

“Now that our supply will become much bigger, that should change.”

Pub refurb​

To coincide with the new partnership, the pub will be closed for a minor refurbishment from 27 to 31 October.

Singh said: “The Duke is a very successful pub, so I don’t want it radically change it. But I do want for it to have a feel for being linked to Riverford – the menus will be branded with name for a start.”

The tie-up will also mean the pub will run a vegetable market on Saturdays, as well as numerous meet-the-supplier events, master-classes and supper-evenings.

Singh added: “We’re also doing a Christmas event on 18 November. So we’ll close the pub for a day, and it will be full of suppliers with stalls full of festival food.”

The Duke of Cambridge is the only pub in the UK to have received an organic certification licence from the Soil Association.