Share tactics work at the Boot
Roger Clarke and his partner Diane took on the Boot, a 17th-century country pub in Chipperfield, Hertfordshire, four years ago.
The pub is a listed building in a conservation area, with a large garden. The Punch Taverns lease on the business is Roger and Diane's first venture in the pub trade, and has inevitably proved a challenge.
"We lost about 40 per cent of our wet sales when the smoking ban came in and have been working very hard to replace that business by being more creative with our food offer," says Roger.
"About 75 per cent of our trade is wet-led and we are still trying to improve our food to attract a higher spend per customer."
The pub has recently trialled the Time to Share food offer from Moy Park Foodservice.
Working with the pub's chef, Vinnie Weston, Roger and Diane continually aim to innovate around the core traditional pub menu.
Roger has developed a reputation for experimenting on Saturday nights, asking customers to try out new products in exchange for feedback. It was in this way that they discovered that, despite trying several different brands of chip, in blind tastings customers prefer Vinnie's hand-cut ones every time!
The Boot serves traditional fish and chips on Thursdays, made with Vinnie's own-recipe beer batter and served in paper, and authentic Cornish pasties on Wednesdays. It holds gourmet food nights twice a month.
"Our most popular dish on the menu is without doubt, ham, egg and chips, with ham from our local butcher," says Roger. "I wanted to try the platters from Moy Park Foodservice to add something a little different to our existing food offer. All of the Time to Share elements can be served with minimum fuss - ideal for groups of people who just want a snack and so much more interesting than crisps and nuts."
Feedback from customers was positive; with the quality good and the price right. The platters were most popular in the evenings but especially during the recent round of Six Nations rugby matches, which were screened in the bar.
To find out more about the range and to obtain free 'Time to Share' point-of-sale material, log on to Moy Park Foodservice or call 0800 085 2749.
