News Article Comments : Value is the driver

Value is the driver

It's all very well speaking of value. One of the pubs 50 paces from mine is 'good value' - you can get a steak and chips for £4 and the beer is cheaper. Course, the beer is rancid as well, serverd at almost room temperature, it smells, was cleaned 20 years ago.. And go down to your local butcher and see how much a good quality 8oz steak actually costs. The fact is, we can all throw slop together and sell it for nothing - but who wants to? When you go to the large groups that offer family dining at 'affordable' prices, you know exactly what you are getting. Sure, the outlets may be clean, tidy etc., but when you are paying £5.99 a meal, you know what to expect. Pre-packed, pre-frozen crud. I'm looking to buy an A/V reciever at the moment - i'm looking at an Onkyo TX-NR905. RRP is around £1,400 but it can be got for £799. Look at the specifications and you will see many a £399 reciever from the likes of Denon and Yamaha around offering what seems to be the same product for considerably less - so what gives? Well, the component quality is poorer, the processors are inferior and the build quality is worse. Sure, for a £399 reciever in their marketplace, they are 'good value', but against the 'pukker stuff', they are inferior.

This is the 'value' difference between our £10 steak and 'their' £3.99 steak - and the proof is in the eating. So sure, we can offer 'value', but we need to indicate what the value is we are offering - our value is a warm, convivial atmosphere, friendly staff, clean loos, good background music, passionate chefs and the best quality pub food - we are not a resteraunt, we have no gastro stars, but we offer great value - for our market.

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Value is the driver

Ken I think you are on the track I wanted to go but couldn't find the energy follow - I put all this on a posting here in June:

"They invest millions - which of course individuals don't have the possibility of investing in their own operations - and produce NAFF horrid pastiche inauthentic businesses that are financially highly successful. I'm not jealous, I'm not envious but my breath is certainly taken away by the banality of it all - and at other peoples' admiration of this catering SUB mediocrity. I'm just pointing out that what they provide is the lowest common denominator of the market. Pile it high sell it cheap. And generally wear a chef's hat or a waistcoat while doing it; 1973 ground hog day. It doesn't really matter what it is they are piling up as long as it is CHEAP. It's not clever and it's not good".

I will try a Taybarn sometime if I can and see if it might change my mind.

edited by: J Mark Dodds at: 13/09/2008 17:17:53

This post replies to Ken Nason > Value is the driver

Value is the driver

Thanks Charles. Earlier this year my open mindedness led my family and me to try a Beefeater in Kent near a retail centre - five adults, two children, all fed with drinks including wine for about £50. The very next weekend we went to an individual place called Quex Farm http://www.quexmuseum.org/house/kent-house.htm newly opened, three adults, two children all fed with drinks including wine - around £100.

Which was the best value?

Quex by a long margin. The food was sublime, the service querky, well informed, polite and honest, all in all a brilliant experience. The Beefeater food was dreadful, the meat meagrely portioned the veg unlimited. The great big bulging carvery 'chefs' with tall white hats were prodding the over cooked sweating meats, slicing off tiny strips and were reluctant to speak to anyone filing past their huge sausage like fingers. ALL the veg were massively overcooked. The broccoli was actually yellowed and acrid, the cauliflower cheese the consistency of rice pudding, the gravies were evil gloppy shiny dark brown glue like substances, the vegetarian gravy easily the best of the three.The service was fairly on the ball time wise but completely impersonal and clueless about what was being served. Customers in places like this are units on a conveyor belt no more no less. This is THE worst form of catering devised by man, it has no meaning other than to generate profit. It is part of the business spectrum that allowed animal protein byproducts to be fed to animals which led to BSE, yet it unhesitatingly is lauded as highly successful. It makes me sick.

edited by: J Mark Dodds at: 13/09/2008 17:21:19

This post replies to Charles Yaxley > Value is the driver

Value is the driver

Of course your'e correct Martin. It is all down to the individuals, what they like, what they're used to and what they can afford. There is a place for all types of outlet for all types of people. I think the point is that we are being told we all have to 'up the bar' and move with the times, and the poor offerings (as percieved by some) are being blamed for the operators poor efforts. People are saying we should be serving 'value for money' food, but what they are not saying is what that value is, as it is different for us all. The implication is I should serve my Richard Woodall Cumberlands for £3.99 and my locally sourced, locally farmed steak for a more 'affordable' price making it 'better value'. What they are not looking at is the value element of public perception - to be honest, by and large, the 'general' public are content with the Beefeater offerings so they are well catered for - but they may not percieve it as poor quality boil-in-the-bag food, but good value for money. Everything has to be taken in context. I'm afraid our Richard Woodall sausages, J.P.Cryer (local butcher/farmer) meat, olives-et-al olives etc., come at a price because they are a certain standard - a standard I have considered is acceptable in my marketplace and at a price Iconsider makes them good value for money. Of course, you can still pay £18 for a steak round the corner, or £3.99 down the road so in the end, it is down to the customer - if we have poor food sales, we have got it wrong for our market and thus we must not be good value, but at the moment, things seem to be ok.

This post replies to martin kay > Value is the driver