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Goose Fat Information Service

Impact started promoting cooking with goose fat in 2001 by sending samples and information to top chefs and the media – in those days the traditional cooking fat was barely being used. Helped by Jamie Oliver’s 2001 advert featuring him cooking goose fat roast potatoes and Nigella Lawson’s insistence on the Jonathan Ross Show that Christmas roast potatoes must be cooked in goose fat, the fat became firmly established as an essential Christmas ingredient. Sales of Highgrove Goose Fat, the leading UK supplier of both branded and own label goose fat, over the festive period soared. The celebrity chef endorsements prompted a great deal of curiosity about goose fat, but also pigeonholed it as very much a seasonal product, both in the minds of consumers and the trade who used to remove it from their shelves after Christmas. Our next challenge was to demonstrate goose fat could be used all year round. In 2007 to educate the trade, the media and consumers about using goose fat we recommended setting up the Goose Fat Information Service. The Information Service we created is a generic information resource comprising of website, www.goosefat.co.uk, dedicated phone line and leaflets to answer any questions regarding goose fat and also promote different culinary uses. On a daily basis we deal with enquiries from the Information Service, many of which are sales leads from the trade, including caterers, butchers and delis. 2008 saw us appoint top chef and restaurateur Henry Harris of Racine as spokesperson and he produced a series of delicious recipes to demonstrate the versatility of cooking with goose fat, which have received masses of press coverage. I learnt about some extraordinary uses for goose fat (from putting a goose fat soaked sock on your neck for colds to using it to polish football boots!) when we launched a light-hearted search to find Britain’s most innovative use of the fat. The quirky competition was even covered by The Telegraph! Our latest spokesperson is chef, TV presenter and author, Mike Robinson of The Pot Kiln who has given goose fat a very British feel with traditional, warming recipes, from game dishes such as Confit Pheasant Leg to old favourites like Toad in the Hole. These recipes, which promote the fat as a traditional cooking ingredient year round, are proving popular with journalists, helping generate coverage in food pages. As well as communicating goose fat as an essential kitchen cupboard ingredient to consumers, our current campaign targets the trade with the aim of encouraging restaurants and gastro pubs to increase usage of the fat. Impact has booked, organised and designed a stand for Highgrove Goose Fat at the Restaurant Show at Earl’s Court. Chunky goose fat chips will be freshly cooked and sampled on the stand to persuade visiting chefs of the merits of cooking with goose fat. To promote Highgrove’s presence at the Restaurant Show, we’ve also designed adverts featuring Mike Robinson which have appeared in catering titles. Similarly, we’ve designed adverts and advertorials for consumer media. With goose fat now established as a favourite ingredient amongst foodies, we are currently running an advertising campaign in woman’s lifestyle titles which is designed to promote goose fat to a broader audience.

Staff Profile: Linda Batt-Rawden