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How a cider bar on a Dutch barge made money with cheesy chips

By Daniel Woolfson

- Last updated on GMT

How a cider bar on a Dutch barge made money with cheesy chips

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Bristol's Apple Cider Boat made the most of cramped kitchen conditions when it came to its chip offer.

Cheesy Chip Tuesday

Where: ​Apple Cider Boat, Bristol

Website: ​www.applecider.co.uk

Twitter: ​@AppleCiderCo

The idea:​ Discounted chips with cheese menu

How it works: ​Making the most of the cramped kitchen facilities on board the converted Dutch barge, the pub’s winter menu consists entirely of baskets of chips, available for two people to share, complete with a range of cheeses, sauces and mayonnaise. Usually sold at £5 per portion, prices are discounted to £3 every Tuesday from October to March.

Marketing:​ Cheesy Chip Tuesday is promoted in-house and predominantly through the pub’s social media platforms.

 

Be prepared: ​The chips are served in baskets with wooden forks and pots of dip. Combinations include mature Cheddar with apple and sweet chilli sauces; French Brie with cranberry sauce and mozzarella with green and red pesto mayonnaise. Additional dips are available to purchase separately. Cheeses are supplied by Devon’s Hawkridge Farmhouse Dairy Produce.

Pay-off:​Complements the pub’s extensive cider offering; provides a hot food offering over the winter months (during the summer, the pub switches to a ploughman’s and picnic basket menu); provides a USP; minimal wastage; simple portion control; free chips are often given away on quieter nights in return for customer feedback.  

 

Key benefits:​ Simplicity of menu avoids the need for a chef and suits the restricted kitchen space on board the boat; attractive to the pub’s strong student following; excellent profit margins.

 

Advice​: Manager Rory Willis says: “Do your research. See what other venues are doing and find a gap in the market. Keep the foundations of your idea simple and make sure you can deliver. You can then allow yourself to be more creative and adventurous.”
Best outcome:​ Chip sales peak on Tuesdays and at the weekend

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