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H
onesty was an idea that had been
floating around my head on and off
for a while before I was actually brave
enough to take the plunge.
To create a food business in a world dominated
by big business was a daunting prospect. I
wanted to show that food can be supplied to
the consumer with honesty and integrity.
Honesty in so far as people have the right
to know exactly what is in their food, how it
is produced and where it comes from. You
can’t expect people to make the right choices
concerning the food they eat if they don’t know
these simple things.
Integrity, in being able to create a business that
can pay its lowest paid staff above the
minimum wage and not expect them to work
all the hours. Integrity also in as much as
respecting one’s suppliers and seeing them as
an integral part of your business not a group of
people or businesses to be manipulated and
pressurised into charging less for their goods
than they should charge.
I have for many years been interested in the
politics of food and am of the firm belief that in
the majority of transactions it is the consumer
who is valued least in the chain despite what is
said to the contrary.
Without wanting to state the
obvious food is vitally
important
to the human race,
not only because
it sustains us but
also because
its consumption
whether over or
under can make
us ill.
It can for example affect the ability
of our offspring to get the most from their lives.
It has an effect on the relationship we have
with our planet and life on that planet and it
provides many of us with a living.
Running a food business brings all of these
issues and many more into sharper focus.
The cookery school was the first part of
Honesty to get up and running.
We wanted to create a great environment for
learning about all things to do with food and
drink, working with local tutors and doing
some of the teaching myself has meant that
we are able to keep the cost of the courses at
an affordable level.
At this stage we had already purchased The
Crown and Garter and had a team of builders
working on creating a relaxed, charming envi-
ronment in which to enjoy food and drink.
It had been a coaching inn since 1640 and had
had little remedial structural work carried out
on it for some years so you can imagine the
state of the place once you started to delve
below the surface.
It needed plenty of work and when I say plenty
I mean plenty, from the floorboards to the roof
and pretty much everything in between.
The place consists of a pub, restaurant and
10 hotel rooms.
It is in an idyllic setting in Inkpen
village and is easy to fall
in love with. The menu
changes regularly to
reflect the changing
of the seasons and
the food is simple,
fresh and well cooked.
When we first opened,
the old skittle barn where the
previous owners had lived, was turned into a
bakery and a small coffee shop.
The bakery quickly became too small once we
started to supply some small local businesses
with bread and cakes so we moved this part of
the business to Greenham business park and
extended the coffee shop.
That coffee shop is now one of three that
Honesty owns and runs, all in their local
communities on small village high streets.
It’s all a challenge and most of the time is an
enjoyable challenge.
It is not easy but then things worth working for
rarely are.
30
Romilla Arber, founder of the Honesty Group,
explains the philosophy behind her business.
Starting this month, Romilla shares some of her
favourite recipes from her book
What’s for Dinner?
Second helpings
, for you to try at home.
“
It’s all a challenge and
most of the time it is an
enjoyable challenge.
”
cooking
up a treat