Ketchup row at Jeremy Clarkson’s pub forces breakfast butty rethink drama
Chips are down for all-Brit ketchup at Clarkson’s Farm host’s Cotwolds’ boozer after sauce-maker withdraws it in row over whose name should appear on the label
Jeremy Clarkson(Image: Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
A ketchup brand is off the menu at Jeremy Clarkson’s pub after a bust up with the all-Brit sauce’s producer.
Condimaniac revealed a dispute over the bottle’s labelling had prompted it to stop providing it to the boozer.
In a video posted on social media Kier Kemp, boss of the sauce-maker, said it would no longer be supplying Clarkson’s Cotswolds’ pub as it did not want to ‘white-label’ its products – that is supply them under different brand names.
Kier said: “We’re not selling 100% British ketchup to Jeremy Clarkson’s pub The Farmer’s Dog anymore.
“The reason is quite nuanced but ultimately what it boils down to is we don’t like to white-label our products.
“We didn’t expect the videos to do so well and we definitely didn’t expect it to catch the eye of Jeremy Clarkson and his pub.
“Ultimately, though, people go to The Farmer’s Dog to buy Diddly Squat stuff, not Condimaniac, so it made sense to have that branding on the bottle.”
Farmer’s Dog pub(Image: GETTY)
Kier said Condimaniac did occasionally produce white-label sauces – including one-off projects for Download Festival and Octopus Energy.
But he said it was different when supplying regular customers because the company was taking responsibility for the reputation of a product which did not carry its name.
Instead the company had decided to bring production back in-house as the initial publicity surrounding the ketchup subsided and it became clear the latest series of Clarkson’s Farm was not going to provide another significant sales boost.
The ketchup was created after Clarkson struggled to find a version which met his strict rule that all food served at The Farmer’s Dog should be produced entirely in Britain.
Condimaniac took up the challenge developing a recipe using tomato passata from the Isle of Wight, Brit-grown onions and carrots, UK sugar, apple cider vinegar from Hampshire and salt from Essex.
The company described the project as ‘a bit of fun’ but videos documenting its attempts to create the sauce went viral.
After producing a successful sauce Kemp and his team travelled to the pub where customers tried it.
Jeremy Clarkson can serve beer – but no ketchup(Image: PRIME VIDEO)
The boozer agreed to stock bottles at its on-site butcher’s shop and Farmer’s Puppy food stand.
Kier praised Clarkson’s operation saying staff genuinely lived by the pub’s pledge to support British farming.
The Clarkson’s Farm host opened the pub two years ago with a pledge to serve Brit produce – a restriction which meant customers could not have ketchup because he could not find one made entirely from domestic ingredients.
Condimaniac’s creation appeared to have finally solved the problem – until now.
Clarkson had not responded to a request for comment.
