Free range and organic may be fashionable, but if your source is not honest you risk losing your business.
Producers and consumers are getting angry about the number of restaurants making misleading claims about their raw materials. As more public interest is being shown in the provenance of food, consumers are growing very selective about issues such as animal welfare and organics, and the risks of a restaurant being prosecuted under the Fair Trading Act are growing. “While the Commerce Commission has no current investigations into restaurants making free range or organic claims, it has taken action in this general area in the past,” a Commission spokesperson told grill. “In 2001 and 2002 the Commission took two successful prosecutions of poultry farms making misleading claims about the nature of free-range eggs. One company was fined $10,000 and costs, while a second company was fined $35,000.”
In a relatively small community such as New Zealand’s hospitality sector, it does not take much for illegitimate claims to become well known, and a number of producers are already becoming irritated by restaurateurs who buy cheap and then claim free-range or organic status.
“The problem is, nobody stirs the pot about this issue,” says Craig Luxton, of premium produce suppliers Zealfresh. “As suppliers we trust the integrity of the people who run businesses, such as Rolling Hills poultry and Freedom Farms, which supply us. They have put a lot of effort into gaining third-party certification of their products, but there is no effective policing. The Commerce Commission has got more important things to do, but somebody is sure to be prosecuted soon. We all know who is ripping the system off.”
Gregor Fyfe of Freedom Farms agrees. “The key point is always third-party certification, that is where the SPCA comes in,” he says. “But there are a number of restaurants out there who are offering free-range pork that cannot be verified. Some of them buy from us for a while, and then shift to a cheaper supplier from who knows where. The only reason it is cheaper is that it is not what they claim it to be. Sadly this goes on a fair bit.
“It is up to diners,” he adds. “If there are claims about a product, people should ask where it comes from, and if the waiter can’t tell them, it is not the real deal.”
Simon Ericson of Neat Meat puts the onus on restaurant critics to keep their readers informed.
“I know of critics who claim they have had a dish made with free-range product and we know that is not the case. If they are writing restaurant reviews the onus is on them to check that a restaurant’s claims are correct, and to publicise it when restaurants are lying,” he says.
Bad publicity is the best option of all according to the Commerce Commission: “The Commission receives a large number of complaints from consumers and uses its enforcement criteria to assess and prioritise what further action it may take.”
It also warns that the Commission itself will actively publicise restaurants which mislead the public.
“The Commission may use its full range of enforcement tools, which include compliance advice letters and warning letters as well as settlements and prosecutions.
“Commission warnings and settlements may be made public and can result in negative publicity and resulting brand damage. This reinforces that it is not just the risk of court action that businesses face when not taking their Fair Trading Act obligations seriously. Increasingly, consumers go straight to the media when they think that the Fair Trading Act may have been contravened. Earlier this year a caterer making false claims about the origin and quality of his products had these claims exposed on the front page of a major daily newspaper.”
The threat of discovery may not be so public, but it can be equally destructive, according to Simon Ericson, whose company has developed its own one- to six-star grading system for meat.
“If you are claiming quality and charging for it, you had better be damn careful. Consumers will leave you if they think they are getting ripped off. The real pros in the business don’t mess around with their basic quality, and our job is to make sure they get what they pay for so they can pass it on to their customers. If they lie to their customers, in the end they lose them. A restaurant is only ever as good as its last meal,” he concludes.
Given the number of accusations flying around late night bars where the hospo trade gather after work, some properties are running pretty close to the wind. Do not be surprised to find the name of a restaurant near you in the news soon.
There is such a thing as bad publicity.