Restaurant busted for telling porkies
A Queensland pig farmer has exposed a high end Brisbane restaurant for claiming to be selling her pork when it wasn’t.
Backfatters Heritage Free Range Pig Farm produces free-range, grass-fed, ethically raised and locally produced meat.
So Julia Powell, who runs the farm, saw red when she discovered the popular Bacchus restaurant was claiming to be selling her pork when it wasn’t.
Ms Powell said it happens too often.
"It goes on quite a bit and it's frustrating for consumers who try to do the right thing by eating free-range meat or ethnically sourced meat," Ms Powell told the ABC.
"If it says it on the menu then customers are going to believe it, but the customer is being duped and we are being duped.
"I'm not quite sure why they did that, to trade off the back of our name."
What was particularly infuriating was that she only discovered it by accident. One of her customers was eating there and noticed it was on the menu.
"So I've had enough and said 'No way mate, you are not getting away with that shitty behaviour'," Ms Powell said.
This is not just a simple porky. It could land Bacchus in a lot of trouble. According to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), if a business is caught making a misleading or deceiving claim, it is likely to be in breach of the law. That’s regardless of intent.
Bacchus put it down a breakdown in communication and praised Backfatters as "standout farmers who produce excellent quality pork".
"We placed the Backfatters pork on the menu as part of our pre-planning to have menus ready when and if the product could effectively be sourced," Rydges South Bank general manager Callum Kennedy told the ABC.
"The menus were printed and incorrectly placed in the restaurant.
"Bacchus unreservedly apologises to Backfatters for this mistake and oversight."
"We are hoping for their understanding and we will endeavour to continue working with Julia to hopefully showcase her wonderful product.
"Bacchus is a staunch champion of local produce and celebrating and shining a light on our local suppliers, and the fact we made this mistake here has saddened everyone in the entire team."
by Leon Gettler, May 26th 2017
