Cooking up a brand

Any previous reader of this column may know that as a somewhat virtual newcomer to these shores there are a lot of things I have no “history” of. I like to think that this stops me from making too many assumptions (never assume – best dictum I ever learnt). Sometimes, of course, it’s frustrating and sometimes it may just lead to a different point of view.I’ve seen lots of celebrity endorsed brands recently and in markets like fragrance quite a few personality brands from the likes of J LO and Britney, but I’ve seen less in food than I had come to expect from the UK market. Now, I admit, Brits have come to love food comparatively recently – in my childhood food was much more about fuel than fun - but now they’re keen watchers of TV Chefs and as lascivious over food porn as anyone. In the UK, there are Chef Brands in value added Rice, Couscous, Cook in and Pour Over sauces, Ready Desserts, Confectionery and Meats. Here in the US, though, I’ve only read about Emeril’s heritage tomatoes, heard about Francis Ford Coppola’s wine, and have drunk Wolfgang Puck’s coffee in my hotel room.Am I missing something? There are more restaurants here than anywhere else in the world, there are brands in depth in every category, it’s a society that generously supports Paul Newman’s charity brand, that applauds George Forman and his grill so why no Chefs? Where’s the equivalent of Jamie Oliver who having exposed the shame of junk food in UK schools and won real change in children’s nutrition has gone on to put his name to a few special products – and to promote a whole supermarket chain. He’s almost a King of Chefs. Of course we do have a real Prince too – the Duchy Originals brand (pictured above left) is as close to being branded Prince Charles’s Recipe as can be (actually it’s rather like Newmans Own, a charity brand). So advice please. Am I just unaware of Chef brands or aware of a really strong opportunity?