Jeremy Clarkson has revealed he could be losing a staggering amount on every single customer who visits his new pub.
Last month, the former Top Gear host opened his latest business venture – the Farmer’s Dog.
Hordes of fans have descended on the watering hole since it opened, with the pub using only British ingredients for its food, and obviously using plenty of produce from Clarkson’s Diddly Squat Farm.
But it sounds like this bold business model could be causing Clarkson to lose a fair amount of money.
Writing in the Times, he admitted his pub adventure is more costly than he expected and asked fans to “be kind” when they visit and see the bill.
The 64-year-old wrote: “I do ask, if you drop by, to remember this. Your lunch, if it arrives at all, is costing us a lot more than it’s costing you – so please be kind.”
Explaining how he came up with the price for the pub, he revealed he simply asked artificial intelligence (AI).
“I asked an AI program to work out what the average price of lunch in a Cotswolds pub is and just charged that,” he wrote. “It’s possible that for every customer who comes through the door I’d lose about £10.”
Clarkson argued someone more focused on profit would have charged more for the all-British menu, and laid bare to readers just how costly it was to buy only British produce, instead of importing ingredients from abroad.
For example, he claimed imported black pepper costs about £10 per kilo, whereas purchasing a home-grown alternative can be ten times more expensive.
As a result, he divulged that the Farmer’s Dog hadn’t managed to fully deliver on its 100 per cent British promise, despite Clarkson trying his “absolute hardest.”
The issue has come on the drinks menu. Although the food produce is all fresh and local, some ingredients for drinks simply can’t be grown in the UK.
Clarkson said: “There have been some problems like, for instance, the simple G&T.
“You can’t have a pub that doesn’t offer a gin and tonic. But there is quinine in tonic water, and you can’t grow that in Britain.
Sure, I could have served gin and water instead, but I didn’t think you’d enjoy it very much. Especially as, instead of a slice of lemon, you’d have been given a slice of turnip, or some potato peelings.”
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