Trends reunited

PubChef looks at how the changing consumer focus - such as the increasing desire to know where food is sourced - is shaping the pub food landscape

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Tapas, deli plates, finger foods - whatever you call them, there is no denying that the grazing trend is catching on in the pub world.

Greene King has introduced a successful tapas menu in local town pubs in its managed division. The pubs focus on British items such as Cumberland sausage, scampi and onion rings at £1.65 each or £4.65 for three.

Matt Godbold, marketing manager for Moy Park Foodservice, which supplies combo products from Kitchen Range Foods, says: "Increasingly we are a nation of grazers. Exposure to different cultures and ways of eating has increased desire for foods such as tapas, mezes and dim sums."

Research shows that 194 million starters were consumed in the UK in the last year, and 20% of adults say they prefer to share a starter rather than have their own.

With the forthcoming smoking ban, the big challenge facing all outlets, particularly pubs, is the need to grow food sales. Combos and sharing platters consumed outside of normal meal-times can generate extra revenue.

Cheaper cuts of meat

There is a growing trend for chefs to take the cheaper cuts of beef and lamb - such as beef brisket or shin, neck and knuckle of lamb - and cook them "low and slow".

Hugh Judd, foodservice project manager

for the English Beef & Lamb Executive (EBLEX) says: "Cuts like these, when cooked on a low heat for a long time, perhaps sous vide,

are incredibly tender and succulent as well as full of flavour."

The popularity of pork on pub menus also continues to grow. The meat is versatile in the kitchen and has a fantastic profit potential. From the easy-to-carve loin to the hip and trendy belly, the market for pork is still huge.

Origins of species

Mintel's recent report on pub catering predicts "the successful food pub of the 2000s will be looking at actively advertising its local sourcing and quality ingredients using-farm assured or similar schemes."

"Provenance" is increasingly the buzz word, driven by consumer desire to know the source of foods.

Kirsty Grieve, Food from Britain regional

food and drink manager, says: "At a time

when more and more people are questioning the provenance of the food they are eating, pub chefs should be realising the business benefits of sourcing quality British regional food and drink.

"People now want to know how the food on their plate arrived there, where it came from and how it was produced - traceability is key. Consumers want to be able to visualise the farms and fields where the food served to them originated."

The trend for using quality local ingredients has been led by the independents, but increasingly, pub companies are realising

the potential, with operators such as

JD Wetherspoon, Ha!Ha! Bar & Canteen and Pitcher & Piano all featuring regional produce on their menus.

Kirsty says: "Perhaps the most compelling reason for chefs to offer dishes made from regional produce is the bottom line - people are willing to pay more for quality food. It makes sense to consumers to spend more money on meat when they know it has come from a local supplier, rather than a foreign abattoir where the standards may not be as rigorous as in Britain, or to pay extra for vegetables that were picked on the morning they are served and have not been transported hundreds of miles."

To source produce from your region visit www.regionalfoodanddrink.co.uk

Coffee

The high-street coffee boom which generated £498.2m in sales last year, presents a huge profit-making opportunity for pubs.

Many, such as JD Wetherspoon, are already capitalising on this, with the company recently claiming a 6% slice of total high-street coffee sales. The company also recently opened a coffee shop at the front of its Capitol pub in Forest Hill, London.

Following November's licensing laws changes, pubs have never had a bigger opportunity to drive coffee sales through breakfast trade, morning coffee, lunchtime, and afternoon coffee, right through to the after-dinner experience.

The amount of speciality coffee drunk outside the home more than doubled between 1999 and 2003 and this trend will continue to grow.

As Elaine Higginson, sales director of coffee supplier First Choice Coffee, says: "What was once specialist to the coffee shop market is becoming increasingly available."

First Choice Coffee estimates that a small pub serving 50 speciality coffees a day can expect to make a profit of about 65% while a larger operator serving an average of 200 cups a day can expect to make as much as 75% profit.

Breakfast

Breakfast is "the new lunch" according to leading food writers, with many top London restaurants now serving it. Following licensing reform, many more pubs have been taking advantage of the breakfast opportunity - JD Wetherspoon now serves 200,000 breakfasts a week.

Under its Eat well, be well campaign, the Government is urging people not to skip breakfast (www.eatwell.gov.uk).

David Hancock, editor of Alastair Sawday's Special Places, Pubs & Inns of England & Wales, says: "Pubs in towns, close to or on main roads should be taking on the lay-by burger vans and Little Chefs by opening for breakfast and offering something different, say corned-beef hash, steak and eggs, pancakes and cinnamon toast."