Unilever Foodsolutions pledges more support for pubs

Unilever Foodsolutions (UFS) new MD Tracey Rogers has unveiled a new on-trade strategy which will include providing pubs with kits to help them make the most of big national events - and says pubs could emerge from the recession as winners.

The move is aimed not only at helping pubs make the most of their food offer at key times but also embrace some of the emerging consumer trends such as the push towards healthier eating. And Rogers hopes it will help pubs to keep hold of many of the customers who have traded down from restaurants and been pleasantly surprised by the quality and value pubs have to offer.

Launching with a World Cup kit, the initiative provides licensees with recipes, tent cards, beer mats, posters, nutritional information and all the culinary advice they need. The kits, which will also be available for other key occasions, also offer pub chefs a full breakdown of ingredients and calorific information that can help them to make sure dishes are labelled correctly and diners are offered healthy options too.

Rogers told ThePublican.com​ that Unilever had researched the market globally to identify emerging consumer trends and that her team would now be focussing on a programme of dedicated in-pub promotions to help licensees win from food.

She said: "Our research shows that customers are demanding healthier food and looking for the same things in the pub that they do in the home - they do want to know what they're eating. We can provide the information on ingredients and the recipes that pubs need and our information tells us that revenue goes up when chefs offer nutritional information and that there is a swing towards healthy eating."

She added that if pubs get the quality and value right with food they will beat the financial downturn.

"Because of the recession people have traded down to pubs but have been surprised by how good the experience has been so I believe pubs are in a very good position coming out of the recession. People will continue to question why they were spending so much at the high end given the quality and value in pubs," she added.