Alison Baker looks at more innovative food business ideas
Cookery demonstrations
Where: The Puesdown Inn, Compton Abdale, Gloucestershire
The idea: Owners John and Maggie Armstrong fulfilled a long-term ambition by launching pub cookery demonstrations in October 2006 to coincide with British Food Fortnight. Chef John is no stranger to culinary showmanship, having been involved in Academy of Culinary Arts demonstrations for several years. After buying the pub in 2002, he delayed introducing the idea until he had enough kitchen staff to free up his time. Demonstrations have included "From sea to table", "Starters with a wow factor" and "Free range and whole".
How it works: An interactive two-hour demonstration, where the audience is given the opportunity to look, taste and touch, is rounded off with a two-course lunch incorporating the featured dish/ingredient. Customers leave with a sheaf of recipes and photos and confidence to try out the dishes themselves.
At £25 per head, this event offers great value for money and many customers have immediately booked up for the next demonstration in John's innovative
programme. Morning demonstrations are the most popular, but to reach a wider audience the Armstrongs also offer evening sessions, when customers are treated to a glass of wine and nibbles for £15 a head.
"We try to hold the sessions in our smaller bar restaurant to allow us to run a normal lunchtime service in the main restaurant" explains Maggie. "We usually attract about 15 people to each demonstration, which is just about right. Our 'Starters with a wow factor' demo proved so popular that we had almost 30," she adds.
How promoted: Many participants are repeat bookings while others are drawn in by word of mouth, the pub's monthly newsletter and table flyers.
Top tip: Ensure that you choose an experienced demonstrator who can do the job effectively. They should be able to engage the audience, think on their feet, have a sense of humour and interact well. It's not something that just anyone can do.