Sir Norman Wrassle
From the desk of the chairman
Welcome to the website of the Tripe Marketing Board, Europe’s most radical meat-based marketing board.
The Tripe Marketing Board is dedicated to educating the British public about eating tripe as part of a healthy, balanced diet. So whether you want to find out more about tripe or sample some of our delicious recipes you have come to the right place.
For too long tripe has languished on the butchers’ slabs of England. The Tripe Marketing Board is determined to raise the profile of tripe to the pre-eminent position it held back in the days when Britain was truly great and you could feed a family of six on a nourishing dish of tripe for less than a halfpenny.
Please take a leisurely look at our website – there is no charge. You’ll see we mean business.
To those who question the humorous tone of this website, let me say this. Consumption of tripe has fallen every year since 1958 and, according to results from recent focus groups we have organised, most people would rather eat a plastic bag than eat tripe. Drastic measures were called for. We have it on good advice that a humorous, self-deprecating tone is the way to sell tripe. It has worked for other foods and it can work for us.
Since we launched our social media campaign back in 2012, the number of daily visits to this website has increased by 500% and it is now an unusual week when at least two dozen people don’t visit our site. Tripe is making a comeback. We may not have the budget of our colleagues at the Potato Council or Seafish UK but, thanks to the launch of our new publishing arm, TMB Books we can finally make our mark. Find out what we have in store for you. We specialise in Fact Free and Low Fact history.
Tripe tastes just as good today as it always has. So why not take a look at our nutritious and delicious recipes – I’m confident you won’t be disappointed! There’s something for everyone on our website. So whether you’re 65 or 75, I hope you enjoy your visit half as much as we enjoy marketing tripe!
Sir Norman Wrassle Chairman
About the Tripe Marketing Board
The Tripe Marketing Board was set up in 1992 to replace The Tripe Council when its CEO, Paul Mellor, left to pursue a solo career. The Tripe Council was originally known as The Tripe Industry Development Council and, briefly, the British Tripe Council. Before that, it was known as The Association For The Legal Disposal Of Unwanted Cow Products.
The Tripe Marketing Board was an industry-wide response to the continuing post-war decline in tripe sales in the UK. This was due to the ending of rationing, increasing affluence and a widespread perception that it is not fit for human consumption.
It is our belief that not only is tripe very much fit for human consumption but that it can form part of a healthy diet for people of all ages.
So why not give it a try? You never know, you may even like it!
Tripe facts and tips
Plagued by infestations of cockroaches, rats or other household pests? Simply leave a bowl of tripe out overnight and in the morning, hey presto, problem solved. The pests are either dead or guaranteed never to return.
In the 1920s, there were something like half a million tripe shops in Lancashire and an estimated 2,000 tripe shops and restaurants in Wigan alone!
Prisoners of the Spanish Inquisition were forced to either eat tripe or be burnt at the stake. Many chose the latter.
Tripe juice is an excellent cure for a hangover.
A diet of tripe can increase your libido by up to 400%.
To cure hair loss, simply wrap a sheet of tripe around your head and secure with a swimming cap.
The first tripe takeaway, Tripe Hut, opened in Manchester in 1979. It closed the following year.