Caterer apologises for 'inappropriate' hotdog named 'Anne Frankfurter'

A caterer has apologised after it featured an inappropriately named hotdog on its menu.

The Viva Veggie Van, a plant-based caterer from the West Midlands, announced it was selling an "Anne Frankfurter" plant-based hotdog at the Birmingham Brewery Company taproom this weekend.

They described it as a "classic plant-based hot dog topped with raw onion, relish, ketchup and mustard" and it cost £7.

But when screenshots of the menu circulated on social media, there was a huge backlash and the taproom cancelled their stand.

In a statement, the brewers said: "A menu was shared last night by a 3rd party vendor who was booked to trade at our brewery tap room this weekend.

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"We did not have sight of the menu before it was published and agree that the name of one of the dishes is totally inappropriate. The trader will not be trading with us."

Maria Finn, the owner of viva veggie van told the Jewish Chronicle that she didn't mean to be offensive. She said: "I can’t believe what’s happened. It was just playing with words, something to stand out, this business is me and my daughter.

"We never meant to upset anyone, I’m not a controversial person."

But she appeared to suggest there was method to her madness, adding: "Anne Frank was from Germany, from Frankfurt, and she didn’t eat meat."

She also said she had already ordered food for the three-day event this weekend so the cancellation will be "a massive hit" for her finances.

"This was going to be our first event, I got made redundant during Covid and started the business with my daughter," she said.

"We just wanted to do a small event before Christmas, we’ve ordered all our food now and there’s no other festivals this weekend for us to sell at. I'm very disappointed."

Karen Pollock CBE, Chief Executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust told the JC in a statement: "Anne Frank was a young Jewish girl forced into hiding for two years before being deported to Auschwitz and then Bergen-Belsen where she was murdered.

"To use the name of a Holocaust victim as a marketing ploy will never be appropriate.”

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