Slice of the action

John Montagu, the fourth Earl of Sandwich, has quite a bit to answer for. It was His Grace who, legend has it, asked his manservant to bring him a slice of meat between two slices of bread to sustain the Earl during his marathon card sessions.

In these enlightened days, of course, snack technology has developed to the extent that Sandwich could now sustain himself quite happily with a bag of pork scratchings and a couple of buffet pork pies. Culinary history would, however, be all the poorer for that, and we must give the Earl all the credit he's due.

Sandwiches are big business in pubs. Baguettes and bloomers, doorsteps and toasties, wraps and paninis - the combinations are endless. Just how endless, though, is an interesting question.

However, assessing the total size of the sandwich market in pubs is a challenge. Jim Winship, director of the British Sandwich Association (BSA), says: "It's not an easy figure to gauge. We know from The Publican's annual Food Report that around 80 per cent of pubs sell food, and most of them will have sandwiches on the menu."

A very rough, back-of-the-sandwich wrapper calculation, based on 45,000 pubs selling just five sandwiches a day for six days a week, gives a rather scary total of more than 70 million sandwiches a year sold by pubs. The real figure is almost certainly considerably higher.

Mysteries are there to be solved, and so over the next few months The Publican plans to work with the BSA to build up a clearer picture of the sandwich market in pubs. We're starting this time around with a simple survey asking pubs to let us know what their top selling sarnies are. Across the entire out-of-home food market, the BSA's research shows that the top three best sellers are chicken, cheese and ham, in that order. Whether the same is true in pubs, remains to be seen.

As an incentive to take part, we're offering pubs a chance to bring a little more flair and imagination to their sandwich menu with Hellmann's Sandwich Delight. Since its launch earlier this year, Sandwich Delight has proven to be a versatile ingredient.

The four varieties are ideal for sandwich, wrap, panini and jacket potato fillings but caterers have since been using it in all manner of other dishes. Rachel Chambers, product manager with Unilever Foodsolutions, explains: "It says fillings for sandwiches on the tub, but give a caterer a good product and they are bound to experiment with it. People have been using it in main courses and to create impressive canapès and desserts, and we're expecting bumper orders leading up to Christmas, as it will be perfect for the party season."

Pubs generally use spreads, mayonnaise or cream cheese to add flavour, act as a barrier or to bind ingredients - Sandwich Delight combines all three of these qualities in one product. It's made from a chilled blend of skimmed milk, vegetable oil, herbs and spices, and is suitable for vegetarians. It also has 50 per cent less fat and 40 per cent fewer calories than an average serving of butter or margarine across two slices of bread. Get spreading.

Facts and figures​

• Pubs are competing for sandwich trade in the UK's most competitive snack market - taking in not just the supermarkets, convenience stores, and sandwich bars, but also sandwiches made at home. Figures compiled by TNS for the British Sandwich Association show:
• More than 62 per cent of the population buy a sandwich at least once a year
• More than 19.7 per cent of sandwiches are bought in work canteens and staff shops
• People in Yorkshire spend the most on sandwiches, more than £114 a year each on average
• The most expensive place to buy a sandwich is London, where the average is £1.83 against a national average of £1.66
• Wraps account for four per cent of total sandwich sales, baguettes for 10 per cent
• One third of the market in value is accounted for by 25 to 34-year-olds
• 70 per cent of all sandwiches are eaten at home, totalling 6.2 billion eating occasions
• An average of 4.2 sandwiches are eaten at home, per person, every week in Britain
• 55 per cent of sandwiches eaten at home are consumed at lunchtime. Another 14 per cent are eaten at breakfast, 13 per cent are eaten at tea, 11 per cent at the evening meal and seven per cent as part of a snack
• Another 2.67 billion sandwiches are made for lunch boxes

Pub Food Sandwich Survey​

What's your best selling sandwich? Are your regulars cheese and pickle pickers, or is it sausage and onion that brings tears of joy to their eyes? Tell The Publican what your most popular sandwich fillings are, and you could win one of a pack of all four varieties of Hellmann's Sandwich Delight - Original, Curry, Cucumber & Dill and Chives & Parsley. Ten pubs drawn at random from forms received by post or email will win.

• Your name
• Pub name
• Pub address
• Phone number
• What are your Top Three best selling sandwiches?

Pleases end your answers to Pub Food, The Publican, Ludgate House, 245 Blackfriars Road, London SE1 9UY or e-mail your answers to pubfood@thepublican.com. Winners will be selected from responses submitted by Monday, November 6 2006. Usual competition rules apply.