Man bites dog

There's been quite a bit of a focus on the potential for hot dogs in pubs during the run-up to this summer's big sporting calendar. Hand-held snack foods are ideal for pubs during busy trading periods, so we're told. In our latest Pub Food Product Trial, the Victoria in Brighton tested the potential of a spike and drum machine, hot dogs and accompanying sauces from Rollover.

Kelly Killian was looking for a new challenge when she decided to run her first pub, and in October 2005 she took on the tenancy of the Victoria in Brighton. In her quest to generate more food sales, Kelly was happy to test the potential of Rollover's hot dogs.

The Victoria was trading quietly, with a shortage of customers and a lack of atmosphere. The pub's back-street location in a quiet area away from the city centre meant passing trade was hard to come by. Food had not been served at the pub for more than three years.

"It's a small, local pub," says Kelly. "As soon as I opened it up for business, customers were demanding food, so I decided to strip out the kitchen and completely refurbish it. A month later, I had the kitchen up and running."

The pub now serves classic fare such as lasagne and chips, cajun chicken and chips, curry and rice, and also provides a good selection of vegetarian options, along with a separate kids' menu.

Trade has picked up since the menu was introduced..

"I wanted my pub to be more community-led, and to create a relaxed, friendly and homely environment, so we've introduced quiz nights on Tuesday and Thursday," says Kelly.

"We organise various team events including darts, football and pool and we'll also show Sky Sports for special occasions, such as the World Cup.

"Rollover's hot dogs fit perfectly with our customer base, and we trialled them for 10 days, selling them at £2 each. The hot dogs were a real success. Rollover's customer service was excellent. We were given posters to display in the windows and this proved to be really effective as it caught the attention of the locals. Some of them even popped in to grab a hot dog before continuing on their walk into town.

Served instantly

"Normally it takes an hour to cook a meal, taking into account half an hour prep time. The hot dogs could be served instantly to customers; hardly any preparation time was needed. Rollover's frozen French baguettes were taken out in the morning and left to defrost over a couple of hours, and with the machine just needing a little time to warm up, it was so easy."

Customers helped themselves to a choice of four different Rollover sauces, mustard, ketchup, onion relish and chilli, which were placed next to the machine on the side of the bar.

"Once the customers had tried one, they wanted another one immediately or came back for more."

Customer Rosina Wood commented: "I ordered around three or four hot dogs during the trial and I really enjoyed them.

"When you're really hungry, it's great that you can be served quickly rather than having to wait to order something off the menu. I also loved being able to choose from the various toppings."

Kelly concludes: "On the weekends we sold a hot dog to over two-thirds of our customers. From having no bar snacks, we managed to sell over 60 hot dogs in a 10-day period - the customers were really pleased.

"We'll definitely be serving hot dogs from now on, especially for the sporting occasions, and we expect a lot more custom during the summer."

• If you'd like your pub to take part in a Pub Food Product Trial, please email details to pubfood@thepublican.com