Desserts trial: A sweet idea

Related tags Moy park foodservice Pudding

With a strong community feel, regulars and staff think of the Bell & Bear Inn in Rowley Regis, West Midlands, as a "country pub in the town"....

With a strong community feel, regulars and staff think of the Bell & Bear Inn in Rowley Regis, West Midlands, as a "country pub in the town".

Licensee Stephanie Corcoran has run it on a Punch Taverns lease for eight years. The busy pub has an 18-strong staff team - many dishes on the menu are homemade, including chips, which keeps staff costs high.

With customers feeling the pinch and margins tight, extra measures have been needed to keep the business ticking over.

Through proactive marketing, including writing to local newspapers to promote special events and deals, and organising leaflet drops, Corcoran has managed to keep many regulars using the pub, as well as drumming up new trade.

Food is an important part of the campaign. Offers include the Bell & Bear's Sizzler night on a Tuesday, with a meal and drink for just £5.99, and Family Feast night on a Wednesday.

Around 50 to 60 per cent of customers have a dessert across the week, a higher proportion than many pubs achieve. Corcoran appreciates the opportunity puddings offer to generate extra spend and profit.

Sweet Trolley
Until recently, the dessert offer consisted of hot, traditional puds made from scratch alongside freezer-to-plate ice-cream-based desserts. When the pub's usual supplier delisted a number of its regular desserts, Corcoran decided to trial the Sweet Trolley menu from Moy Park Foodservice.

"The menu offers something different," she explains. "Donuts are a popular product, everyone loves them - kids and adults alike - and they are so quick and easy to prepare.

"I was in need of refreshing my dessert menu, so the opportunity to try something new which we haven't really offered before seemed perfect. The dishes on the menu from Moy Park Foodservice offer something new and exciting, and really appealed to the customers."

The most popular item on the menu was the sharing platter for either two or four people, combining large sugared donuts, large cinnamon donuts, mini lemon donuts and mini choc donuts with dips. Profiterole-style donuts and sundaes also went down well, with customers enjoying a fun, new twist on a classic style.

The feedback Corcoran received was resoundingly positive, with plenty of praise for the new dishes and menu. "The customers particularly liked the idea of sharing desserts, as people are often too full to have a whole pudding to themselves," she says.

"The bite-sized donuts are perfect to liven up a range of popular puddings and the lemon and strawberry mini varieties were a huge hit, especially when served as part of the offer with a hot drink."

Preparation and presentation of the products was also easy, cutting staff time in the kitchen, and "dishes such as the sundaes came out looking great, helping to tempt other customers to give them a try".