Make More Bread From Your Sarnies

Estimates vary but the UK sandwich industry is now reckoned to be worth an annual £2.8-3.5bn or three times as much as the UK’s pizza industry.

So, it’s a no-brainer as to needing them on your menu, but whether your sarnies are as exotic as the ‘Tuna Rousseff’ or just plain cheese and pickle, a few tweaks to the way you present them to customers could significantly influence your bottom line.

Take this real life example: sandwiches at the Crown in Bath represented 5.8% of the sales mix. Licensee Sharon used to serve five types: Bacon & Mushroom; Cheddar & Chutney; Tuna Mayo; Tomato, Pesto & Mozzarella and BBQ Chicken & Mozzarella each with a salad garnish which cost her 31p. More often than not the garnish was left on the plate and ended up in the bin (part of the 600,000 tonnes of food waste from restaurants annually according to the Sustainable Restaurant Association www.sra.org​​ ^{but that’s a whole different story).}​

I suggested to Sharon that she ditch the garnish and replace it with a 180g portion of chips at a cost to her of 14p, served in a small basket on a nicer plate to both look good and ensure strict portion control. Instead of charging £4.45 per sandwich she upped it to £4.95 as customer perception of the dish as representing good value for money increased with the addition of the chips and better tableware. Figures for the following quarter showed an average 8% increase in GP for her sandwich offer which translated to £149.64 profit or £598.56 projected profit for the whole year. That’s nearly £600 for very little effort.