Pole position

Lucy Britner looks at how pubs

are catering for the UK's increasing

Polish community

Fancy a plate of bigos and a few kielbasa washed down with a Tsykie? This question may increasingly be asked by

friends inviting you down the pub, as the number of bars catering for Polish customers continues to rise.

Since Poland joined the European Union in 2004, over 600,000 Polish people have settled in the UK and bought with them a demand for a taste of home in the UK.

According to figures from the British Polish Chamber of Commerce, in the first four months of this year Poland sold more than £100m worth of food and beverages to the UK - over 35% more than during the same period in 2006.

A market of rapid growth

Research by organisers of trade show the World Food Market claims Poles spend at least 20% of their disposable income on Polish-specific foods and 50% said they would spend more on Polish food if more was readily available.

Show director Jon Irwin says: "The Polish community across the UK has expanded rapidly in the last decade and, based on annual spend, the Polish food market is in a period of rapid growth. It is a community that is characterised by an essentially young age profile - 60% are between 18 and 40."

It hasn't taken long for the big operators to home in on this. Earlier this year, JD Wetherspoon said Polish lagers such as Tyskie and Zywiec were the fastest-growing bottled beers, by sales growth, in its UK pubs.

Spokesman Eddie Gershon said: "We got in first and it has grown from there. There are now hundreds of thousands of Polish people in the UK, which doesn't do sales any harm at all.

"There are also a lot of people who like to try different beers, be they brewed in Poland, Lithuania or Jamaica."

Laurel Pub Co has also pounced on the Polish pound with the opening of the Belvedere in Acton, West London.

Although it's not strictly speaking a "Polish pub", the menu and drinks offering is geared towards west London's thriving Polish community. The name of the pub, Belvedere, is also the name of a palace in Warsaw where Chopin performed and the pub's menu is provided in both English and Polish.

Maintaining authenticity

All ingredients for Polish dishes are sourced from Polish suppliers so the authenticity is maintained. Polish dishes are offered daily on the specials board, and include dumplings,

goulash, stew or meatballs. Four Polish beers are on offer: Tsykie, Zywiec, Brok Sambor and Brok Strong.

Staff at the pub are a mix of English and Polish. A Laurel spokeswoman says: "The mixture of staff highlights the fact that it is a little bit of Poland in London, a Polish experience."

Andy Eldridge, general manager at the Belvedere, says that if offering Polish dishes licensees should focus on the best and most authentic Polish ingredients.

He says: "Polish food is generally a labour of love rather than a quick fix, time is taken in both the preparation and the cooking.

"Fast food should not be expected as most dishes are a long time in the making or cooking."

Of course Polish food and drink will not only appeal to your Polish customers, but to other customers keen to try new dishes and will add interest to your offer. Why not trial dishes at a Polish-beer-with-food night?

For more information on sourcing Polish suppliers visit some of the specialist manufacturers and suppliers who will be exhibiting at the World Food Market at London ExCeL on 21 and 22 November.

The show features ethnic and world speciality foods from Oriental, Eastern European, African, Caribbean and Middle Eastern markets. For more info visit www.worldfoodmarket.co.uk.

10 ideas for Polish dishes

Barszcz czerwony: beetroot soup with sour cream or served clear with dumplings

Grochowka: thick pea soup

Flaki wolowe: beef tripe soup

Poledwiczki wolowe: beef sirloin, often rare, with mushroom sauce

Ozor wolowy: soft steamed beef tongues.

Golonka w piwie: fat, tasty pork knuckle, sometimes in beer sauce, served with horseradish

Kotlet schabowy: traditional breaded pork cutlet

Zeberka w miodzie: spare ribs in honey

Klopsiki: meatloaf, often with tomato sauce

Fasolka po bretonsku: sausage and bean stew

Supply and demand

Makro has launched a range of products in 18 stores within established Polish communities. The stores feature 100 Polish lines, including beer, confectionery, cured meats and dairy products. Tyskie and Lech beer, Sokalow frankfurters, Lowicz jams and soups and Wawel sweets are among the brands available.

Makro's customer manager Kenny Jacobs said: "We pride ourselves on offering a great variety, but also on providing specialist goods and items. With reports that Eastern European communities in the UK are growing,

we want to ensure we have the products these communities need."

Makro's Polish range will be available in Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds, Nottingham, Acton, Wolverhampton, Southampton, Leicester, Enfield, Coventry, Edinburgh, Sheffield, Belfast, Charlton, Reading and Croydon.

The Black Sheep, Langney Road, Eastbourne

Opened: September 2007

Licensee: Adam Urbanski

This pub opened in response to the expanding Polish community in Eastbourne.

Adam, a Pole himself, wanted to give both English and Polish customers a taste of Eastern Europe.

Eastbourne is now home to a Polish convenience store, a Polish delicatessen, a café serving traditional and home-cooked Polish food, and now the pub.

Adam stocks 10 Polish beers and five Polish vodkas. Among the best-sellers are Lech, Tyskie, Zywiec, Zubr and a draft beer called Okocim which sells for £2.50 a pint.

Adam says: "Okocim is our most popular draught beer and it is more popular than Carlsberg and Stella."

On the menu: pork loin fried in breadcrumbs with mashed potato; traditional Polish casserole, or bigos, with sauerkraut; Polish ravioli with cheese and potato. The pub also serves traditional roast dinners.

Adam's tips for introducing a Polish offering:

1 Know your market. Polish people traditionally work hard and our regulars don't finish work until around 7pm.

This means our kitchen stays open

until 10pm

2 Employ a Polish chef or someone

who knows how to cook Polish food

and what kinds of dishes to put on

the menu. It's important to serve a

few traditional English pub dishes

as well

3 Potatoes are a key ingredient

and usually accompany most Polish meals. We don't often eat chips, but we do serve them at the pub. A typical Polish meal usually features soup, followed by fish or meat with potatoes.

The Globe, Barker Street, Newcastle

Opened: May 2007

Licensees: Polish-born Dr Elizabeth Jasiak and Kinga Kossak and English-born Yasmin Stewart.

Yasmin and her Polish friends opened the pub to cater for the 20,000-strong Polish community in the West End of Newcastle. The customer base is currently split 60:40 in favour of Polish customers. Yasmin says: "English people are intrigued by our entirely Polish menu. They really enjoy it."

Since taking over the pub and turning it into a Polish outlet, the trio have increased turnover by 40% or 50%.

Their pub company, Trust Inns, is so pleased with their success, they are helping fund plans to convert the pub's upstairs into a 60-cover Polish dining room.

Dishes on the Globe's menu include bigos (meat stew) with chleb (Polish bread) (£5.95) and kielbasa (smoked pork sausages) (£3.95).

The pub also has Okocim in 500ml bottles (£2.20), which sells so well that Yasmin has ordered the draught version. The pub shows Polish films and currently serves 200 covers per week.

Yasmin's tips for introducing a Polish offering:

1 Polish cooking is time-consuming

if you're not used to it. Send your own

chef on a training course or employ a Polish chef

2 Highlight your new Polish offering by hosting a Polish night. You could offer a set-