JD Wetherspoon has ditched its Welsh produce supplier following a mini-scandal earlier this year over food provenance, Caterersearch has learnt.

The pub company was forced to remove five “Welsh” dishes from its menu in June after an investigation by Trading Standards Officers found the products from Baraka Foods may not have actually originated in Wales.

Embarrassingly it came only a month after JD Wetherspoon said it would be pushing provenance in its pubs and making information about the origin of its meals freely available to customers.

As a result, a trio of new suppliers were appointed in September comprising Dunkley’s in Northants; the Welsh Sausage Company in Powys; and RF Brookes in Newport.

Collectively they are supplying Wetherspoon’s with Welsh beef and Brains SA ale pie, Welsh dragon sausages and mash, Welsh lamb and mint sausages and mash, and Welsh Celtic pride beef chilli con carne.

Jameson Robinson, food development manager for Wetherspoon, said: “We have done full audits on the factories concerned, and have checked specifications and all meat purchasing audit trails to ensure Welsh origins, where applicable.”

“We looked at several suppliers but chose the above for British Retail Consortium accreditation, quality, innovation, reliability and performance.”

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By Tom Howard

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