Food with a Punch

PUB COMPANIES, on the leased and tenanted side at least, have traditionally had a fairly hands-off approach to food. Given that the tie is all about wet products, any food sales were seen as a 'perk' of the licensees which didn't really have much to do with the business of running pubs - expect possibly at rent review time.

How things change. Punch Taverns, the UK's biggest pubco, is starting to take food very seriously indeed. While it has had in-house catering support for its licensees for a while, it has beefed up its team considerably over recent months.

The acquisition of the Spirit Group managed operation in 2005 meant that Punch owned a group of pubs, including the iconic Chef & Brewer brand, which required a robust head office food operation. With the company also estimating that up to 5,000 of its leased and tenanted estate would benefit from an increased focus on food, especially in light of the smoking ban, it's not hard to work out why food has moved up the agenda.

Former Spirit Group food implementation and training executive Alan Todd now heads up the new catering team, supported by four catering executives - Nick Hemming, Stephen Ham, Andy Briggs and Kate Salisbury.

Alan says: "Those retailers who seize the food opportunity now in terms of additional revenue and attracting new customers are more likely to keep their business robust during and after the transition period."

For the leased estate, the aim is to offer advice and support, with the services of the catering team available free of charge.

"We are here to help. Our research has shown there is great potential to develop food sales in our pubs but there are retailers in need of support and guidance. That's where our new catering execs come in," Alan says.

While the drivers are very different on the managed side, Alan believes the economies of scale which Sprit can achieve will overcome any reticence on the part of lessees. "As far as suppliers are concerned, we're negotiating the same price for the whole business," he says.

Spirit is aiming to maintain and even grow its share of the pub food market, currently around five per cent. Initiatives at Chef & Brewer include more emphasis on regional specialities, as well as table service in some outlets.

Doing it for the kids​

However, one of the biggest innovations has come with a children's menu at Spirit Wacky Warehouse sites. Spirit believes it is ahead of the game when it comes to tackling issues around children's food.

It has reduced the fat and salt content of all main courses, provided gluten-free meals and flagged up a nutritional table on the menu to give greater guidance.

In addition, all the 'build your own' healthy food sections have no artificial colours, flavours or sweeteners. Along with the perennially popular chicken nuggets and burgers - which are themselves higher quality than ever - there are pasta dishes, cottage pie and curries, with fajitas stuffed with healthy vegetables proving a fun-make-it yourself option.

Paul Farr, head of food at Spirit Group, says: "We provide our younger customers with a choice; they are not restricted to a limited and unimaginative menu."

The menus have been tested on experts - a children's consumer panel - and Spirit also sought advice from the Food Standards Agency (FSA).

"We attended a meeting with the FSA to understand the current voluntary traffic light system being introduced into the retail market.

"The system was reviewed for Spirit kids, but as there are no current traffic light children's targets in place we opted for the introduction of GDAs (guidline daily amounts), which we hope will serve as a useful guide to parents," he explains.

"All our main dishes were reviewed for fat, saturated fats, sugar and salt with a notable reduction gained. These were then tasted by our consumer panel with fantastic feedback from the children and parents alike."