FOOD EMPIRE
Jeremy Clarkson set to cash in with array of lucrative spin-offs – despite new pub losing him money
The Grand Tour star admitted one rule he was keen to follow in his pub has been difficult and expensive to implement.
JEREMY Clarkson is set to expand his food empire despite facing losses at his new Cotswolds pub, The Farmer’s Dog.
The Clarkson’s Farm star is reportedly looking at other ways to diversify his business after admitting he may be losing as much as £10 per customer.
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Alongside filming episodes of The Grand Tour, (13 September), Jeremy, 64, has branched out into the world of farming and hospitality.
He now sells a variety of produce such as his Hawkstone lager, sausages and honey at his Diddly Squat farm shop. Jeremy also uses this produce in his £1 million pub, which uses almost exclusively British ingredients.
The exception to this is gin and tonic, which includes quinine, an ingredient not native to the U.K.
However, he confirmed the rest of his produce is all local.
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“The pork, the beef, the lamb and the venison are all British. And so is pretty much everything else. The milk, the butter, the eggs, the vegetables and the fruit. We even cook in British oils,” Jeremy explained.
Unfortunately, sticking to his British only rule has been expensive and is costing the pub money, despite the fact it was swarmed with crowds of punters upon opening.
So Jeremy is now looking at ways to make some extra cash. This includes selling microwave meals and branded kitchenware, including knives, aprons, tea towels, crockery and cutlery, all linked to the rural boozer.
Baobab Productions Ltd, the firm behind his Farmer’s Dog venture, has applied to trademark the name with the UK’s Intellectual Property and is waiting for it to be rubber-stamped.
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The application reveals Jeremy wants to be able to market “prepared meals consisting primarily of meat, fish, poultry or vegetables”, plus a range of other grub like pre-prepared sandwiches and sauces".”
The application also includes requests for “beers; lagers; non-alcoholic beverages; mineral and aerated waters; fruit beverages and fruit juices; syrups and other non-alcoholic preparations for making beverages; hop pellets for brewing beer. Cider; vodka; pre-mixed alcoholic beverages; low alcoholic drinks; alcoholic essences and extracts.”
I shall miss this’ says emotional Jeremy Clarkson in new trailer for The Grand Tour’s epic final ever episode
Clothing, footwear and headgear are also listed on the application, which was filed three days before the pub opened.
Baobab Productions also applied for the name "The Farmer’s Puppy," a mobile kitchen, and Hop and Chops which will go on branded kitchenware as well as food and drink.
It seems Clarkson is hoping to cash in with these lucrative spin-offs, as he is not making a profit on selling British produce as his pub.
Revealing his financial losses in his column for , he 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.”
The Grand Tour episode guide
How many seasons of The Grand Tour are there and where do they take place?
The Grand Tour launched on Prime Video in 2016 and quickly became one of the streamer’s biggest hits as hosts Jeremy, 63, James, 60, and Richard, 52, felt it was time they move on from Top Gear hit the road.
They have now brought five epic series of motoring adventures to the small screen, each taking place in different locations and even featuring celebrity guests.
Series 1
- Series 1 aired from 2016 to 2017 and took the presenters to a number of foreign locales, including Jordan, Morocco and Italy.
- The series is comprised of 13 episodes, with episodes 7 and 8 making up a two-part special set in Namibia, where the trio embarked on an epic beach buggy challenge.
Series 2
- Jeremy, Richard and James returned for more motoring actor in series 2, and drove their way across Europe as they tested out some of their dream vehicles like the Bugatti Chiron and the McLaren 720S.
- This series, which aired from 2017 to 2018, is made up of 11 episodes. It features regular 'studio segments' filmed in the team's permanent tent in the Cotswolds, and had regular participation from celebrities with two guests going head-to-head on timed laps every episode.
Series 3
- In 2019, the presenting trio crossed continents - from North America, to South America, to Europe and Asia - putting both new vehicles and classic sports cars through their paces.
- This series was the last to feature the regular studio segments, car reviews and timed laps.
- To mark the end of this era the final episode's last segment includes a montage of scenes featuring the presenters over the course of their career as a trio, not only from this programme, but also from their time hosting Top Gear.
Series 4
- This series marked a complete change in format for The Grand Tour as it consists entirely for feature-length specials which aired between 2019 and 2021.
- The first two chronicle Jeremy, Richard and James' epic adventures across Asia and Africa, while the third and fourth episodes saw them put foreign cars to the test on their home turf. And fitting American vehicles through Scottish roads is no easy feat.
Series 5
- Following the same format as series 4, the fifth and final series of The Grand Tour also consists of four feature-length specials.
- The first of these hits screens in 2022 and follows the trio as they travelled through Norway, Sweden and Finland in three Rally-Inspired Sports Saloons.
- The second episode was another Euro adventure while the third took the presenters back to Africa.
- The fourth instalment of the series and final ever episode of The Grand Tour, titled One for the Road, premieres on September 13, 2024. It promises to be an emotional one as the trio set out on one epic final adventure in Zimbabwe and reflect on their 22-year-long working relationship and friendship.
He continued: “Imported black pepper is about £10 a kilogram, whereas the home-grown alternative is ten times more.
“There are other issues, too. If I butcher one of my own pigs and turn it into sausages, each one of those sausages will arrive at the pub costing 74p. If I buy imported pig meat, then the cost of a sausage is 18p. It was the same story everywhere.
“Now a business-minded person would look at these costs and realise that with British-only rules in place, a hotdog was going to be priced at about £45. But I’m not a business-minded person.
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“So I just filled my heart with hope, asked an AI program to work out what the average price of lunch in a Cotswolds pub is and just charged that. It’s possible that for every customer who comes through the door, I’d lose about £10,” Jeremy explained.
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