Putting the humble sandwich back on the pub menu

We look at profitable sandwich making, taking into account quality, diversity, and the use of interesting fillings, while Bestfoods offer four fresh sandwich ideas.

"The perfect sandwich is put together with good flavours, good texture and quality ingredients; it's how you build it and what you put in it that counts," said Nellie Nichols, creative director of Hazlewood Foods and the original driving force behind some of Pret a Manger's wild and wonderful sandwiches.

According to Nellie, if you don't cut corners on quality and use your imagination, you can't lose. "It's lateral thinking, imagination and common sense," she said as we perused the blackboard over the fireplace in the Atlas 'gastro' pub in London's Seagrave Street.

Amazingly, there is only one sandwich on the menu- grilled chicken breast with tomato and coriander salsa and mixed leaves (£7).

And that, in a nutshell, is the problem. Pubs just ain't interested in the sandwich anymore.

Years ago - back in the seventies to be more precise - the sandwich was just about all you could get in a pub, bar the chicken and chips in a basket and the odd crusty roll with liver sausage.

Today, the sandwich has been relegated to the back of most pub menus - and as far as Nellie isconcerned, for good reason.

"Pub sandwiches are appalling unless you're in Cornwall where they make very good use of crab and prawns. You're more likely to get a decent pub sandwich in the country. If you go to a frozen food pub you'll get plastic ham and Sunblest bread," she said.

Sadly, she's right. When we telephoned pubs at random from The Good Pub Guide 2001, the response was mediocre to put it mildly. Most pubs do not push the boat out when it comes to sandwiches. A common response was that there was 'no great call for sandwiches'.

And while it can be argued that pubs literally have more on their plates these days - food is now big business as we all know - there is also a very real risk that they are missing out on a massive profit opportunity.

"Figures from the British Sandwich Association tell us the value of the UK sandwich market grew by 13 per cent in 1999 and by nine per cent in volume; which means that people are spending more money on good quality, interesting and innovative sandwiches," according to Clare Barber, senior brand manager for Hellmann's at Bestfoods.

People are spending a large amount of money on sandwiches but not in the pub where the sarnie offering is widely described by the publicans themselves as 'nothing out of the ordinary'.

According to Clare Barber, research has revealed that 50 per cent of Tesco shoppers claim they are more likely to buy a sandwich containing a big brand name mayonnaise than one that doesn't. Good reason for Bestfoods to invest in a high gloss sandwich brochure entitled Sandwich Recipes from the nation's favourite. The nation's favourite being Hellmann's mayonnaise.

The brochure in question offers a range of sandwich ideas using different breads and, of course, Hellmann's mayonnaise.

"What we are saying to pubs is - here are some simple recipe ideas which you don't have to think about," said Clare. But so far that is exactly what they have done - not think about it! There hasn't been much of a response yet but it is early days and Bestfoods, confident of success, has already pushed ahead with plans to offer branded sandwich blackboards to publicans who want to sell more sandwiches.

"Our aim is to inspire people," said Clare. "We understand caterers don't have a lot of time or inclination. It's all about making their lives easier and to get them thinking that sandwiches can be sold in the winter as well as the summer," she explained.

The idea that sandwiches are a seasonal dish is a misnomer but most of the publicans we contacted said they did sell more during the summer months - in the winter customers wanted a hot bowl of home-made soup and a roll in preference to a ham and pickle sarnie.

True, but Bestfoods is pinning its hopes on the fact that 'snacking' is on the increase in the UK and hence there might be a resurgence in demand for the pub sandwich.

In an article in the British Sandwich Association's Sandwich & Snack News early last year, pub restaurant chains were criticised heavily for going too far down the road towards deskilling - in one case only allowing their chefs to prepare gravy - and when quizzed by the magazine apparently showed 'no concept at all of modern customer tastes in sandwiches'.

But surely the pub trade's lack of interest in Britain's booming sandwich market can only be good news for the BSA's membership. According to Sandwich & Snack News, 'while the pub trade remains the biggest potential danger to high street sandwich bars, the danger remains a small one...so far."

Whether the pub trade really does present a threat to Britain's sandwich and snack bars is debatable but unlikely.

According to Nellie Nichols, the sandwich boom occured when Margaret Thatcher cancelled lunch back in the eighties and the humble sarnie had the potential to become 'a restaurant experience between two pieces of bread'.

The fact that most pubs - both independent and chain - are obsessed with offering full-blown hot meals in a 'restaurant' environment has scuppered the chances of the pub sandwich achieving world domination at the expense of high street sandwich and snack bars.

For many people, the resurgence of the pub sandwich would be viewed as a step backwards for an industry which is already, in some areas, pushing the culinary boundaries to the limit.

However, the pub sandwich will not disappear completely - there will always be 'a selection of sandwiches' tucked away on most pub menus. The problem is that most of them are mere 'afterthoughts' and nothing to write home about.

Having said that, there is no shortage of ideas from companies like Bestfoods and others eager to inject a little innovation into an area of the pub menu which has, for some time, suffered from ideas fatigue.

Here's four sandwich ideas from Bestfoods' Sandwich Recipes from the nation's favourite leaflet.

• Salmon Pinwheel​ Flavour Hellmann's mayonnaise with lime juice and mixed herbs. Mix Knorr Cajun paste with the mayonnaise and spread on to slices of malted wheat bread that has been cut laterally. Add smoked salmon and roll up like a Swiss roll. Cut into slices and skewer together with a traditional kebab skewer or lemon grass.

• Tuna subs​ Combine Hellmann's mayonnaise, tuna and a little Knorr chilli paste, chopped spring onions and Cheddar cheese. Place filling into a small semolina topped roll.

• Torta Mexicana​ Thinly cut spiced beef layered onto a spinach wrap and smothered with Knorr Salsa paste, Hellmann's mayonnaise and jalapeno peppers.

• Taste of the Orient​ Mix Hellmann's mayonnaise with Knorr Hoi Sin paste and spread on to a baguette that has been cut lengthways. Add crispy shredded duck, fine sticks of carrot, cucumber and crunchy spring onion. A second cut may be added and filled with alfalfa sprouts.