Jamie Oliver: Recipease

By JULIETTE ROSSANT It seems that Jamie Oliver has been paying attention to trends on this side of the Atlantic on his recent trips (see Super Chef). He probably drove by Dinner My Way, Delightful Dinners, Let's Dish or The Dinner A'fare or one of a dozen other variations of meal assembly stores. The idea is that you stop in, choose the dishes you want to make (for 4, 6 or 8 people) and assemble them from pre-cut, pre-portioned ingredients according to a recipe, and take the dish home to eat or freeze and cook later. Turns out that Jamie is planning on opening his own chain of do-it-yourself stores called Recipease in the UK. Unlike the American version, customers not only prepare dishes, but they can also buy ready-made meals. Jamie will open his first store front in London this winter. Why haven't American celebrity chefs backed these popular franchises? It would be difficult to confuse canned or frozen meals that chefs put their brand names on with their restaurant dishes, even if they have the same name or resemble each other. Wolfgang Puck's frozen pizzas do not claim to taste exactly like his Spago inspiration. What happens if a chef does give recipes to a do-it-yourself company and insists on top-quality fresh ingredients. Perhaps some dishes that are easy to assemble might turn out to be quite good – good enough to challenge restaurant dishes. In tough economic times, with society's increased emphasis on eating at home with the kids, the do-it-yourself meals might replace a weekly or bi-weekly restaurant meal. Of course, there are no waiters, linen, and someone has to do the cleaning up. Why is Jamie going ahead with Recipease? This is what he has to say on the subject: I've wanted to create something special like this for a long time, something which offers the support and solutions in the neighbourhood that people need these days as so many people were never taught to cook at home or in school. I think we can really get people excited about food - young mums wanting ideas for the family, blokes wanting to impress the girlfriend, professionals planning a dinner-party, everyone. Whether you've got time or not, we can add a little bit of something extra and teach people in a friendly way, like I was taught. I really believe that if the produce and product is exceptional and good value, then people will find this service dead handy." He has criticized Britons for cooking badly. He claims his stores will teach them to cook and appreciate good food. But behind his feel-good reasons for opening Recipease are, no doubt, sound business reasons. Although he does have many restaurants, from his Fifteen chain to Jamie's Italian bistros, he also has plenty of food products and cooking products that could be showcased in a store. Also, in an economic downturn, why not appeal to all segments of the population? If his customers cut back to dining out only once a week, they can still eat Jamie's food, just fixed at a storefront. And, if things get tougher, they can still buy his cookbooks and cook his recipes at home. They will be constantly reminded how important Jamie is to eating well. Related news: Guardian Daily Standard Previous articles: American Road Trip What's Cooking? with Jamie Oliver Branding: Jamie Oliver - Watching the Salt Jamie Oliver & Paul McCartney: - Anti-Landmine Campaign Jamie Oliver Label: Sainsburys v. Tesco Jamie Oliver: Chicken Out! Jamie Oliver: Jamie At Home Jamie Oliver: Cook with Jamie Jamie Oliver Cartoon By Aardman Jamie Oliver Betters British School Food FOOD PIX: Jamie Oliver Fat Suit Nora Sands: Nora's Dinners Jamie Oliver Signs Sainsbury's Jamie Oliver New Year: School Lunch Jamie Oliver on Vodafone Live! Jamie Oliver: Real Guts Fat Lady Sings Jamie Oliver Jamie Oliver: School Lunch [Chefs & Branding - complete] Technorati Tags: superchefblog, Juliette Rossant, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, blogging, food blogging, cookbooks, cookbook reviews, Jamie Oliver, recipease --> back to Super Chef