Making a meal of it - pub food is big business

Pub food is now so popular that many outlets are adapting just for that purpose.

Pub food is big business. Whether it's the up-and-coming gastropubs that have taken pub catering to a new level or the more traditional sausage-and-chip boozers, there is no doubt that food is a money-spinning addition to an operation.

A recent British Lifestyles survey by Mintel discovered that pub catering had shown "tremendous growth" in the last few years with the sector being valued at £5.33bn at the end of 2001.

Not only that but pubs have changed the concept of eating out. According to the survey, people now eat out in pubs on a regular basis, without the excuse of celebrating a special occasion and, perhaps inevitably, restaurants have suffered as a result.

Not surprisingly then catering kitchens and restaurant areas always feature highly on property agents' particulars when they are marketing a pub, and those rare properties that do not offer food are billed as offering an "exciting opportunity" to increase turnover.

There is no doubt about it. A catering kitchen and facilities to provide drinkers with food can mean big money for a licensee - and if they are successful they will also increase the value of a pub. As Neil Morgan of Christie & Co points out, "there is more profit in food than in booze".

But how does a licensee go about adapting a pub to make the best of the property, increase its value as much as possible and cater for customers who are, let's face it, fussier now than they have ever been?

"It's important to think about it carefully," said Andrew Whiteford from licensed property agent Chesterton.

"Don't put in a catering kitchen without thinking about whether it's what your customers want. Perhaps they don't expect food, in which case it will be wasted money."

But when it comes to kitting out a kitchen - a daunting task in itself - there is help available. Equipment specialists Graffters, for instance, will look at your proposed menu and provide you with what you need to make sure it is served up without a hitch.

In fact, however, agents agree it is rare to find a pub for sale without a catering kitchen which means a more common problem for licensees is how to make the most of their food offering.

A visit to half a dozen pubs will confirm that no two are the same in how they sell their food. Some will offer sandwiches from the bar, others hot food served at tables where other customers are just drinking. Many lay some tables at busy food times, while more still have a separate restaurant area.

Perhaps the best example of this diversity is found in the Tynemill-owned Victoria Hotel in Beeston, near Nottingham. It has a good food trade but also has loyal drinking regulars who it did not want to feel sidelined.

The solution was to make the most of the pub's three adjoining rooms. The first, with small tables, encourages those who are only drinking. The second, with larger tables, caters both for drinkers and diners and the third, which has laid tables and a no smoking policy, is clearly a dining area.

With more publicans finding the need to diversify in order to make a decent living, many pubs are choosing to separate their restaurant from the rest of the pub and offer food all day.

But this option itself brings difficulties. People choose to eat in a pub because it is a pub - how do you separate and yet still keep the two areas together?

"The further you go into the country the more you see pubs that offer a wider range of food than they ever used to," said Andrew. "Rural pubs often have to offer something else because they need to give people a reason to go there. They're blurring the line between pubs and restaurants that sell beer."

But it is a fine line and too much blurring can mean putting off customers who just want a drink.

Richard Shaw from The Stonesmith Partnership said he thought separating eating and drinking areas could add value to a pub. "We're dealing with a pub at the moment which has a separate restaurant area and that's undoubtedly an asset. It means people who want to eat are away from those who want to play darts or drink," he said.

London-based pub company Massive believes it has struck the right balance between eating and drinking.

Its French restaurants, the L'Auberge brand, are within - not attached to - three of its pubs and are separate but undeniably part of the pub.

Customers entering the pub are greeted by a waitress who directs them to where they want to be, and the bright, modern décor is the same throughout. Although the two areas are only joined by the bar and the restaurant has an unquestionably different atmosphere, there is a common feel to the rooms.

Similarly chains such as Whitbread's Brewer's Fayre and Scottish & Newcastle Retail's Chef & Brewer make much of their separate restaurant area and are performing well.

"Many publicans can't afford to build an extension to use as a restaurant," said Andrew. "But there are other easy ways to introduce a separate dining area."One of the most popular ways of separating a restaurant from the rest of the pub is to make the eating area non smoking. When introducing a non-smoking area was suggested to the licensee of Massive-owned pub the Fox and Grapes in Wimbledon, London, he was sceptical. It is a traditional pub on Wimbledon Common which is known for its gastropub-style food but also popular with drinkers.

But when he introduced a non-smoking dining area food orders increased and it is now a well-used part of the pub.

According to the Publican's Market Report 2001, 25 per cent of pubs now have a restaurant and a further 27 per cent have a dining area. That number increases to 29 per cent of village pubs with a separate restaurant and 37 per cent of more remote rural pubs.

More pubs than ever are beginning to look at ways to introduce food or increase the popularity of what they already provide.

Matt Bettesworth, director of agent Bettesworths, said: "Food has really become part of the great British pub and long may it last. However, while any licensee can provide food it is the publican who goes those few steps further to create something a bit special who reaps the rewards."

The food offering​

How can you make the most of it?

• If you do not already offer food, think carefully before jumping in. Do your customers expect food?
• Consider laying some of your larger tables at lunchtime or in the evening to make it clear you welcome diners
• But make sure regulars and those who just want to drink are not alienated by laying those tables furthest away from the darts board or pool table and in some pubs, the bar
• If you have a separate area, use it. It does not have to be completely divided from the main bar but make the most of L-shaped rooms, corners and side areas.
• Consider making the dining area non-smoking and keeping tables laid all day
• To link the dining area with the bar, use the same colours for decoration, furniture etc. Make it different with matching table cloths, serviettes or menus that are not used in other areas of the pub.