Pub food: business boosters
Ideas for driving food and drink sales at your pub including a nostalgia night and Sunday roast take-away.
Nostalgia night
Where: Rose & Crown, Tewin, Hertfordshire
The idea: Berni Inn menu and live music from the '60s and '70s. Licensee of the Greene King pub, Harry Higgins, says: "We're constantly looking for new ideas to draw customers in and this started off as a jokey alternative to Burns night. People love a trip down memory lane and a Berni night fitted the bill."
For £19.95 customers enjoyed a three-course meal, sourced from a 1971 Berni Inn menu, and live entertainment from Paul David, an ex-member of '70s pop group Guys 'n' Dolls. Dishes included retro-classics such as melon boat & cherries and prawn cocktail, with mains of steak & chips, scampi, gammon steak, golden fried plaice and half a roast duckling with orange sauce, with Black Forest gateau on the dessert menu.
What we needed: "We found the menu on the internet. We freshly prepare all of our food so this wasn't the style of food we would usually serve at all, but it worked well with the theme of the evening and was incredibly easy to do.
"Paul David, our live performer, lives in the village so he offered us a good deal on the price and we only needed one extra member of staff. I emailed a flyer to our database to advertise the event and produced some leaflets for the pub, which generated quite a lot of interest in the evening."
Business benefits: "We could seat 42 people and had a full house on the night. Thursday nights are usually really quiet for us so our takings received a massive boost, particularly from wet sales.
"We have a core group of customers who come to all our events, but the evening also attracted a lot of people who only visit us occasionally and picked up one of our flyers. Most people were of an age that meant they could remember eating at a Berni Inn, but we also had a couple of younger groups who really enjoyed themselves too.
"It's not an event that we could run all the time but people have left me their email addresses so that I can let them know when the next one will be."
January Christmas parties
Where: Old Inn, Holton, Somerset
The idea: Offering a Christmas party menu throughout January. General manager of the freehold steak & fish pub, Andy Robinson, says: "There are lots of businesses in the retail, hospitality and travel industries that can't have a Christmas party in December because they are just too busy, while other firms may close down over that period.
"Extending our Christmas party menu into January was a simple thing to do and helped to capture this trade, which would otherwise have been lost. It's a great way for companies to motivate staff after a Christmas break, and groups who are hosting post-Christmas season parties also benefit from improved availability."
What we needed: "Our menu starts from £18 per person for two courses and £22 for three, including grilled scallops with celeriac fondant & crisp pancetta served with gremolata; devilled lamb kidneys on toast; beef Wellington with chateau potatoes, parsnip crisp & cardamom jus; and apple & cinnamon crumble with crème Anglaise; as well as traditional turkey and other puddings. We advertised on our chalkboard, website and Facebook."
Business benefits: "We had around 15 group bookings in December with a further few this side of Christmas and one even extending into February. The average party size tends to be 10 to 12 people. We're not making a GP on these prices, so the menu is aimed at groups of eight people or more in the hope that we will make money from drinks sales. For parties of fewer than eight people, we would have to price the dishes individually to make it worthwhile.
Sunday roast take-away
Where: The Feathers at Brockton, Shropshire
The idea: Sunday roast take-away service. Chef owner Paul Kayiatou says: "We're a destination pub in a fairly remote setting, five miles from the nearest town. As we're surrounded by camping and caravan sites, we wanted to capitalise on our location. People often can't afford to eat out these days and we offer a restaurant quality meal at take-away prices."
What we needed: "The takeaway roasts are the same as those on our restaurant menu. These change fortnightly; currently we have pork with crackling or beef, both with fresh vegetables, sauté potatoes, a pot of gravy and the usual accompaniments. We charge £5.95 or £5 each for two or more, compared to our restaurant price of £10.95.
"The takeaways are served on microwaveable plastic plates with a fold-over lid, and cost us about 5p each from Bookers. We advertise on a large roadside A-board and have flooded the area with flyers. Customers are encouraged to phone in advance, but lots just pop in and order over the bar. There are no extra staffing costs as kitchen staff are preparing the same meals for the restaurant and bar staff take the orders."
Business benefits: "We only launched the idea three weeks ago but sold 34 take-away covers last Sunday. Families have said they can't cook it at home more cheaply; some order a roast to eat here and another to heat up the next day. Some have even bought them to eat in their cars! The low cost attracts new customers who haven't eaten here previously and we're hoping that as the weather warms up we will get a lot of trade from the camping and caravan sites."
Top tip: "Ensure you have enough boxes to stack multiple orders in — we keep old veg boxes for this."
