"If your local cafe is serving free-range eggs and sourdough while the place next door uses cheap, battery-farmed eggs—why are you paying the exact same price for your breakfast?"
Welcome back to the podcast. Today, we’re joined by Joe Macken—one of Irish hospitality’s most seasoned operators and the co-founder of Tiller Index. Having built, scaled, and run iconic Dublin restaurant brands like Jo’Burger, Crackbird, Skinflint, and Bear, Joe knows the gritty, commercial realities of running a kitchen from the inside out.
In this episode, Joe pulls back the curtain on "menu greenwashing" and the sourcing opacity sweeping through the Irish food service industry. Instead of self-reported surveys or paid promotional badges, Tiller Index acts as a financial-style audit for provenance—diving straight into kitchen supplier invoices to verify what's actually coming through the back door. From protecting genuine Irish farmers and fishers to auditing fixed staff rosters and ethical working standards, Joe shares why radical transparency is the only way forward for Irish dining.
If you’ve ever wondered where your food really comes from when you dine out, this episode is your ultimate guide. Let’s dive in.
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