Snacks focus: It's all down to presentation
"WE HAD all the products, but pubs didn't know what to do with them. As soon as we put it on a plate, they suddenly got it - a 'bingo' moment."
So says Philip Christophersen, head of snacks company Nibblers, of its recent launch of a new, upmarket serving concept.
Under the Deli Plate range, Nibblers for the first time is offering the plateware and storage jars in which to present the snacks.
Nibblers has encouraged this method of serving for a long time as a way to maximise the visual appeal of its range and the prices it can command.
The products include bites such as grilled haloumi, grilled artichokes with sundried tomatoes, mini salami and pepperdew peppers filled with pesto or cheese - as well as more conventional pub fare such as nuts and Tyrrells crisps. Now, the company is turning to providing the white deli plates itself.
It is a decision that has seen the Chinese supplier from whom Nibblers sources the plates run out of the product line, and Nibblers' Deli Plates taken across the Que Pasa chain.
Nibblers sees the service style as suitable for after-work drinks, as starters or for times when the kitchen is shut.
"It falls in the middle of going out for a few drinks and going out to eat," explains Philip. "If you go out after work, you are usually starving. And this is much more sophisticated than munching three bags of crisps."
He believes that a new age in snacks has dawned in which products must be suitable to fulfil all these roles, to suit groups relaxing and sharing something to drink and eat in a marketplace that is changing rapidly - "especially in towns, pubs are becoming more like café bars", says the Nibblers head.
"Look at Slug and Lettuce and the growth of coffee in the licensed trade," he says.
"Snacks are supposed to be a sociable, sharing thing. People used to get their packs of nuts but there wasn't much in there to go round two or three hungry drinkers. We have always been about sharing."
Along similar lines, Nibblers has also launched a range of snacks and nuts this month that arrive in attractive plastic pots. It is a presentation option for those who don't want to fork out for Deli Plates but require something with a more sophisticated image than bagged snacks.
Presenting snacks in jars on the back-bar, too, encourages impulse purchases, Nibblers believes.
Philip summarises: "We are now getting to a stage as a business where we can say we have 40-odd products and ask what form of service an outlet would like."
How to market a snacks range Philip Christopherson suggests pubs promote their snack range via a deli board or small menu cards placed on tables.
He says these should feature a range of items, say 10, and offer customers a pick of five for a set price. Or pair the snacks with a bottle of wine and charge £17.95 for the bottle and four snacks.
"You can guarantee they will come back for a second bottle!" he says.
