Gordon was delighted to be asked by Arla Foods to help with the launch of its new foodservice division, Arla Pro. Bringing together well-known brands such as Lurpak, Anchor and Castello with a new Arla back of house range, Gordon, along with five other chefs at the top of their game, was challenged to create a dish using his favourite Arla products.
At the Sun Inn, he’s been cooking with Arla mature Cheddar cheese, Lurpak unsalted butter, Cravendale, Quark, Tuxford & Tebbutt Stilton, and Trevarrian Brie for many years. Using some of these favourite ingredients, he was challenged to create a dish that would give a personal view on the use of dairy in his kitchen. Gordon’s dairy dish of choice was a creamy and comforting Dauphinoise potatoes.
To celebrate the launch, the chosen chefs attended an exclusive event hosted by BBC Saturday Kitchen’s Matt Tebbutt, on Wednesday 18th October at Dinerama, a global street food market in Shoreditch, East London.
Also in attendance were industry-leading chefs including Dave Wall from the Unruly Pig in Suffolk and John Calton from the Staith House in North Shields.
Arla’s healthy great tasting dairy products are based on natural goodness; simple, wholesome and nutritious. The global company and co-operative is owned by 11,200 dairy farmers with circa 2,500 of whom are British.
Fuelling both body and soul – Gordon is a big fan of their products and ethos, he said: “For sure I like to know where my dairy comes from. Where and how animals are kept. Plus, farmers work harder than most and deserve to be rewarded properly.”
Between now and 2020, Arla is targeting growth of over £100m from its Arla Pro operation as part of its Good Growth Strategy 2020 to be the ‘Champions of British Dairy’.
Jonathan Dixon, vice president of Arla Pro, attributes the growth to a growing trend of businesses looking for quality and traceability in the ingredients they use.
“We’re seeing businesses choose Arla because the range of brands, products and solutions combine the best of dairy with foodservice expertise and innovation. Arla’s farmer owned model also provides full traceability of our products and ensures the highest possible standards. This is increasingly important to the end consumer and can support sales growth for the businesses working with us.”
Commenting on the new Arla range, Jonathan adds, “We have spent the last few months working with some great businesses and the Craft Guild of Chefs to test the functionality and performance of our products and the feedback has been fantastic.”