Food sourcing: How pubs can work with regional food groups

Some days, you'd be forgiven for believing that the main difficulty facing a pub wanting to focus on local food is turning away over-eager suppliers.

Foragers with basketfuls of dawn-picked wild garlic and watercress, gamekeepers with a brace of woodcock and a couple of freshly-skinned squirrels, and smallholder farmers hoping to dispose of a few surplus smoked trotters and pig-cheeks are all banging down the door of their local pub - if the weekend supplements and lifestyle magazines are to be believed.

The reality for most pubs is somewhat different. Identifying reliable suppliers who can provide food in the quality and quantity required for a busy pub menu can be a real headache. The time and research needed to identify and agree terms with a wide range of suppliers is substantial.

Which is where regional food groups come into the equation. There are nine of these in England, with similar bodies for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Their brief is to represent local producers and build contacts on their behalf with food retailers, wholesalers and - most importantly in the case of pubs - the foodservice sector.

The biggest of these is Heart of England Fine Foods (HEFF), covering the West Midlands from Warwickshire in the east right across to the Welsh border at the western edges of Shropshire and Herefordshire.

Tim O'Grady, marketing executive for the Staffordshire region, concedes this might stretch some consumers' definition of the word 'local'.

"It's a term that means different things to different people. Our job is to put small suppliers in touch with the retailers, pubs and restaurants who might want to buy their produce. It's then up to each to decide for themselves what's 'local' for them," he says.

Membership of HEFF costs £50 a year, with a minimum two-year commitment. While this might not be a huge amount, pubs will naturally ask themselves what's in for them?

"The first and most important thing we can do is put potential suppliers in front of them," says Tim. For a retailer or pub group, such an exercise might take the form of a 'beauty contest', with HEFF lining up a range of suppliers of sausages, cheese, ice-cream or whatever else might be required.

For a single pub, the chances are its HEFF contact will be able to put the pub directly in touch with producers of food, snacks and even - the tie permitting, naturally - beer, wine, spirits and soft drinks.

There are also a number of promotional schemes available to members. These include A-boards and posters promoting local producers, mini-bars for letting rooms, and upright bottle chillers being used by a number of pubs, all carrying the HEFF Savour the Flavour brand. Items such as mini-bars and retail chillers are supplied free, providing the user agrees to keep them stocked with produce supplied by HEFF members.

HEFF has also been instrumental in setting up a delivery operation, Heart Distribution, which is a division of regional wholesaler AF Blakemore. This enables pubs and other users of the service to collate products for a range of HEFF members into a single delivery.

"For genuinely local suppliers, it probably still makes sense to deliver to the pub directly, but in most cases a single delivery will reduce food miles considerably," says Tim.

Suppliers have a veto over who buys their produce, so those who would prefer not to appear on the shelves of certain supermarkets are protected.

The Lewis Partnership and HEFF

One pub operator with close links to HEFF is Chris Lewis, who was named BII Licensee of the Year at The Publican Awards. His family business, the Lewis Partnership, operates the Swan Hotel in the centre of Stafford, the Bear, almost directly opposite, and the Moat House Hotel, in Acton Trussell, just south of the town.

The company is a HEFF member and Chris has worked with the organisation for some time. Having removed mini-bars from guest rooms at the Swan - "they just weren't being used" - he had a rethink when the HEFF-branded versions became available.

Stocked with products such as beers and snacks from HEFF producers, "each mini-bar is probably making me about £40 a month," says Chris." That's all additional income, because I'd taken mini-bars out of the rooms previously."

However, it's through the Lewis Partnership's latest venture that the relationship with HEFF has really paid dividends. Last year saw the opening of the Greengate Deli, a retail outlet in a former bakery two doors down from the Swan and with a kitchen which adjoins it.

The deli specialises in fine food from local producers, as well as take-away sandwiches and hot drinks. An outside catering business has also been established, operating from the deli kitchen.

Chris says: "Opening the deli was partially a protective measure - we didn't want anyone else opening up next to us - but it has undoubtedly raised our game in terms of the range of local suppliers we're able to work with. Opportunities are often limited to certain produce being used in the kitchen."

The deli features the Savour the Flavour branded display equipment provided by HEFF, and there has been significant crossover with the pub and hotel operation. "Our waste is certainly much less, because we're able to use produce across the different parts of the business," Chris adds.

Just Oil

One producer who also recognises the advantages of HEFF is Anthony Froggatt, who has set up the Just Oil business at his family farm Rugeley, a few miles from Stafford.

Having begun cold-pressing rape seed oil on a small scale at the farm a few years ago, the business has taken off. Just Oil now supplies gourmet products such as oil blended with ingredients including lemon and garlic to a range of pubs, restaurants and retailers, and is expanding into new areas such as mayonnaise.

"The contacts HEFF has provided have been invaluable," says Anthony. "We take every opportunity to meet customers, attend trade shows, and so on, and it's enabled us to grow the oil business at our own pace."