BUSINESS BOOSTER
Money Makers: Ideas for driving food and drink sales at your pub
Chilli Festival
Where: The Plough, Harborne, Birmingham
Website: www.theploughharborne.co.uk
Twitter: @PloughHarborne
The idea: Chilli-flavoured specials to celebrate Birmingham’s annual chilli festival.
How it works: The pub offered a range of chilli specials from Friday lunchtime through to Sunday evening. These included a popular pulled pork and chilli salad, a chilli burger, a beef chilli pizza and brunch dishes as well as a Bloody Mary with heat. Homemade chilli truffles were also available to enjoy with coffee.
Marketing: The bar was dressed with a selection of chilli sauces from around the world and the pub’s sharing table was re-dressed with chilli plants. An e-flyer was sent to its database, a week before the event, with in-house posters and the pub’s social media sites also being used.
Be prepared: The pub has a close working relationship with Pip’s Hot Sauces, incorporating the company’s Nagatropolis super-hot chilli sauce into some of its chilli specials. Pip also invented a special chilli relish for the pub’s festival.
Pay-off: Capitalises on the city’s annual festival; generated interest among regular guests.
Key benefits: Increase in footfall and takings; raises the profile of the pub.
Advice: Lee Coliandris, recruitment, events and marketing manager at the pub, says: “Come up with something that no-one else is doing and add your own little twist to it. It’s important to push the boundaries.”
Best outcome: 145 chilli specials sold.
Flower-arranging masterclass
Ye Old Sun Inn, Colton, North Yorkshire
@yeoldsuncolton
Facebook: Ye Old Sun Inn Colton
The idea: Monthly flower-arranging class hosted by local florist at award-winning freehold.
How it works: The florist brings materials, equipment and literature and pays pub owners Ashley and Kelly McCarthy £10 per person for the room, light supper for each of 15-20 participants and tea and coffee all evening.
Marketing: Pub website, social media, in-house and word of mouth. The florist sells tickets and handles enquiries. She keeps a database of customers, including those attending her other classes.
Pay-off: Positive feedback about food quality and atmosphere. Awareness of pub has grown and trade has more than doubled.
Key benefits: A great way to occupy unused space on a quiet evening, bringing new faces and possible future customers on to the pub’s radar. Makes the pub look busy, generates a positive atmosphere on what can be a quiet night and increases drink sales.
Advice: Ensure the class theme varies monthly to encourage re-booking. Offer a bounce-back voucher or incentive to generate future pub business. Distribute menus and event literature in the floristry room to attract customers’ interest.
Best outcome: Goodwill; community incentive; networking with other trades. Weddings and other function bookings via florist.
