Driving new food Business: A menu makeover for S&NPE licensees

The quality and choice of pub food varies enormously - something that is one of the greatest strengths of the sector, as well as potentially a serious weakness.

The fact that tenants and lessees, however restricted they are by the beer tie, have absolute freedom when it comes to food means that there are plenty of high quality, professional and successful pub food operations in the market.

However, there are others which are struggling, especially in an ever-more competitive market. In the face of increased competition both on choice and price by the managed operators, bringing the benefits of head-office buying power and marketing know-how to bear on tenanted and leased food operations could make a real difference.

So the appointment last year of Ben Bartlett as head of food development for Scottish & Newcastle Pub Enterprises (S&NPE) sent a clear signal that, on behalf of its licensees, the pub group is taking food seriously.

Ben previously held a similar role with Marston's Pub Company, and won The Publican's​ HQ Food Champion title in 2006.

The 2,000 pubs in the S&NPE estate have a range of owners, from banks and property investors to British Waterways, which has a joint venture operation with S&NPE to develop waterside sites.

Ben says: "Pubs remain the number one eating out destination and, with the economic downturn a reality, I am sure we'll see consumers moving away from the more expensive high-street restaurants towards value-based pubs."

First step in establishing food support is to find out the current state of play. A review of each pub's catering and coffee-making facilities, potential capacity and food experience identified five major categories used to segment the estate.

These are wet, back bar, snack menu, pub grub and gastro pub. Individual pub income ranges from £100 a week from packet snacks to £1,000 or more generated by high quality, locally sourced menus cooked by chefs.

"There are a lot of community pubs in the estate," says Ben. "There's a diversification and a wide cross-section of pubs. So it's a question of coming up with a number of solutions."

S&NPE has put together tailored training, menus and marketing materials for each category of pub. The company has also negotiated improved

supplier terms on catering equipment and clothing through to ingredients and ready meals, with reductions of as much as 45 per cent over the prices generally available to individual licensees.

Professional one-on-one food consultations are available to lessees. Ben has put together a team of 18 development chefs and trainers who can work with pubs based on the particular menu or type of food offer, and also undertakes 'kitchen excellence' visits himself.

The sessions cover areas such as menu costings, menu design and planning, stock management, kitchen design and equipment and general trouble shooting.

However, while there are opportunities, there are also challenges.

"It is essential that lessees offer the best value they can in the face of both a decline in overall consumer spending and increasing competition. With consumers going out less often they will be increasingly looking for the best value for money," explains Ben.

"The in-depth review of our pubs' food has been invaluable in helping us identify where and how we can help lessees increase their profit from it."

Lessees who have benefited from consultations include Ian Harris of the Jolly Farmers in Purley, Surrey. Running a wet-led pub offering live music a few times a week, Ian wanted to review his food offer. He said: "Ben's approach to the business was tremendous. The visit was invaluable to us. He used his experience to give us advice on everything from the choice of food we should offer to contacts who could supply coffee and pizza equipment."

At the 310-year-old Stag's Head in Wellingborough. Northamptonshire, lessee Jerry Rendle said: "We've been running the pub for 17 years and have two chefs who've been here for about 15 years so having fresh eyes look at our food offer has been very useful.

"We're already introducing some of the ideas that were suggested, including a blackboard to advertise special deals, new menus and cutting down the size of our menu."