Round off a meal

Licensees could do more to extend the dining-out experience by concentrating on after-dinner drinks, says Adam Withrington

There is a line in the 1995 film Casino where Robert De Niro's character, Sam "Ace" Rothstein, a professional gambler who runs a top casino, says the secret to his successful business is keeping the punters gambling as long as possible - the more they gamble the more he wins.

Now, while I would never suggest that the world of pub retailing is the same as the mob-dominated world of 1970s Las Vegas (although some people might!) there is an essential truth in what he says that can be transposed to the pub business. The longer you can keep customers in your pub, the more money they will spend.

Ask yourself, do you really make every effort to do this? Do you ensure your customers look at every aspect of your food and drink offer? Supermarkets do it. Even when you are by the checkouts they have lined up shelves with products to entice you into that one final purchase so they can squeeze every last pound from you.

Pubs have not refined this art. Look at after-dinner drinks. The occasion is not being exploited in the way it should. It is a fantastic money-making opportunity that is being ignored.

Many licensees have good food offerings. They also buy cognac, premium whiskies and port. But have they ever marketed the food offering and those drinks together? Do they have a liqueur selection on their dessert menu? Do they get their staff to offer after-dinner drinks while customers are ordering tea and coffee?

Look at the potential sales figures. If the average food-led business does 500 covers per week and gets one in 10 of its customers to have a cognac after dinner then the venue will make incremental cash sales of £11,700 per year (assuming you charge £4.50 for a cognac).

That represents more than £10,000 a year on cognac sales alone! And imagine what even a 10 per cent increase in take-up would do to this figure.

The out-of-home meal is becoming the big thing in the 21st century. The Office of National Statistics recently published figures which showed that one meal out of six is eaten out, and that restaurant and pub meals will grow by 25.7 per cent in the next three years.

But eating out isn't just about the food - it's about the whole experience and after-dinner drinks should be a significant part of that.

"It is always nice to have a nice range of brandies. If you stock a top-quality cognac it is more than likely that you'll sell it. Liqueurs are a way of making the experience in your pub special"​​Tom Kerridge, licensee, the Hand and Flowers, Marlow, Buckinghamshire

So what after-dinner drinks should you serve? After all, we are spoilt for choice. ​

Cognac​ should surely top any list. The best-known brands are Martell and Courvoisier. Ensure you have proper brandy balloon glasses to enhance the consumer experience.

To say pubs should have some whisky​ available is like suggesting they should have some food on offer for dinner. There are so many individual distillers, producer countries and varieties it is a bit of a minefield to negotiate.

So if you are serving a customer it might be best to offer a well-known single malt (which is more premium) like Laphroaig or Glenmorangie. A good recommended serve for premium whisky is to cut it with water. A 50:50 serve takes some of the harshness off the taste for the inexperienced drinker and opens up much of the aroma and flavour.

Port​ is the classic after-dinner drink. If you are serious about offering it, it's a good idea to invest in one or two top-quality decanters as many vintage ports need to be decanted from the bottle. If carried out correctly, decanting in front of customers can add a real element of theatre to the after-dinner experience.

Cream liqueurs​ are a favourite and you can't go wrong with Baileys, Tia Maria or Tia Lusso. Well-made coffees with a splash of one of these three brands or even a snifter of whisky, are perfect for after-dinner, especially in the winter months.

How to target customers in the right way​

• Go premium​

Jim Beam Brands UK says that customers want brand recognition but are likely to resent massive mark-ups.

The solution? Go premium. "It is much better to offer premium products that offer a new drinking experience - price then becomes less of an issue."

So this means if you want to offer cognac it's probably best to go with the best-known brands such as Martell and Courvoisier. However, instead of offering the standard style of cognac which is VS, why not get them to trade up to the more refined styles: VSOP and the top quality XO.

When it comes to whisky, offer single malts as opposed to blends. This does not mean single malts necessarily taste better than blends, but they do offer a more premium experience for customers.

Knowledgeable staff​

For your pub to really reap the benefits of the after-dinner drinks opportunity, you need to ensure they are fully briefed on what is being offered.

Nothing helps to push sales more than someone talking knowledgably about different drinks and making recommendations. Research by ESP trainers has shown that 70 per cent of customers will order a drink based on a recommendation by a member of staff.

So the evidence suggests customers don't need any convincing - they want after-dinner drinks. As a result Pernod Ricard, through its cognac brand Martell, has launched a campaign to get pub staff to recommend after-dinner drinks.

Taglined "Don't forget the fourth course!" it provides pubs with POS material and tabletop blue boards which you can place on tables with a selection of your after-dinner drinks written on either side.

So make sure your staff know their armagnac from their cognac, their whiskey from their whisky and, most importantly, the benefits that can be gained from focusing on after-dinner drinks.