10 ways to boost your pub pastry sales
1. Virtuous circle
Shirley and Kevin Gladas, tenants of the Red Lion, the Joules Brewery tap in Market Drayton, Shropshire, have attracted a Friday crowd by giving away home-made flavoured sausage rolls at 5pm since the brewery opened in 2010. “The meat comes from the Joules herd of Gloucester Old Spot pigs reared locally at Fordhall Farm, in exchange for spent grain from the brewery, which the pigs eat,” says Shirley. “Our staff love creating flavours such as cheese & pickle, chilli, and Worcester sauce.”
2. Playtime with pasties
To celebrate Cornwall’s St Piran’s Day in March and raise funds for a local playgroup, children made pasties at St Austell lease the Polgooth Inn, near Mevagissey. Tenant Alex Williams says: “Tickets cost £2.50 and 38 children attended with parents. Our chef Neil Clemes oversaw the prep and everyone enjoyed the results. We raised the Cornish flag and there was a fancy-dress contest. A
Cornish evening menu and a storyteller/piper also doubled our usual takings.”
3. Winning ways
A rhubarb & custard pie won a finalist’s place in Jus-Rol’s 2012 Pub Pie competition for Karen Berg, at St Austell lease the Heron Inn, in Malpas, near Truro in Cornwall. The pie contrasts clotted-cream custard with the sharp rhubarb, poached in local Cornish Pear Rattler cider. Berg says: “I use two types of pastry, filo and sweet shortcrust, and include saffron and vanilla for a luxury touch. It is always a favourite on the Heron’s specials board.”
4. Sweet-wise
Pastry sales account for 5% of total revenue at Drake & Morgan, where breakfast sales, including croissants, pain au chocolat and Danish pastries, are an integral part of business. Executive chef Rob Mitchell says: “As a big operation, we can cope with fluctuating business across the week. We increase awareness with special offers, such as a complimentary pastry with a purchase of coffee.”
5. Popular platters
Alan Ward, head chef at the Cock, in Whaley Bridge, Derbyshire, favours offering snacks from the main menu on grazing platters to maximise choice. “Our policy is never to say no,” he says. Platters range from £6 to £12 and often include filo pastry snacks, such
as caramelised onion & goats’ cheese parcels. Steak pie is a big seller, and all dishes are home-made, including pastry. Light filo desserts, such as apple strudel, go down well with male and female customers of all ages.
6. Down the hatch
Lack of kitchen space means that pies and pasties are the only food provided by freeholder Kevin Hunt at his Square & Compass in Worth Matravers, Dorset. Beer and snacks are served on paper plates through hatches, often to a queue 30-deep. “We stick to what we do well and sold 120 locally-made pasties daily last year,” says Hunt. Steak pasties and sausage pies are all very popular.
7. Pie publicity
Carol Haime, right, of Enterprise Inns lease the Sandrock in Farnham, Surrey, is the first woman to become Jus-Rol’s Pub Pie Champion. “We make the most of publicity and don’t have to pay for it,” says Haime. “So the press coverage generated by this winning pie is invaluable. News about innovative products travels fast, so It’s worth entering awards to raise your profile, and upsell
by packaging smaller versions for sale on the bar, for example.”
8. Light touch
Gordon Stott, licensee and chef at freehold the Sun Inn in Dummer, Hampshire — Best Newcomer at last year’s Great British Pub Awards — includes quiches and sausage rolls in his buffets. For tea parties, hand-made croissants are often requested alongside Victoria sponge. To brighten his à la carte menus, Stott likes to use a light buttery puff pastry for tarts and pies, such as roasted tomato, mozzarella & basil tartlet (£5.95).
9. All shapes and sizes
Pastry’s versatility adds interest to products, from giant desserts to tiny savouries. At Marston’s Inns & Taverns’ Hadcroft in Stourbridge, West Midlands, a huge choux pastry profiterole with vanilla mousse filling, drizzled with chocolate sauce, is a highlight of the Coco Loco menu (£2.95). The Trowel & Hammer in Cotton, Suffolk, has mini-pastries such as duck spring rolls on its buffet menus.
10. Vegetarian treats
Phil Kiernan sells 500 pies weekly including his award-winning sweet potato & butternut squash pies at his Gloucestershire freehold, the Farmer’s Boy Inn. Each costs him less than £2.40, retails at £3.60 via Kiernan’s Mad About Pies and sells for £12.95 at the pub. Partnerships including 3663, the Co-op and Michelin-starred chef Martin Blunos boost growth.
Vegan lime tart is a speciality at the Coach & Horses’ vegetarian dining room in London’s Soho. Two evening courses cost £14.95; three cost £19.95.
