It seems to be a case of so far, so good for the early days of the smoke-free pub era.
As the smoke clears many operators have seen the ban as an opportunity for the rebirth of their businesses, and it has been fantastic to see the energy, enthusiasm and fresh ideas of many licensees trying to appeal to consumers in new ways and break out beyond the traditional pub boundaries.
Among operators reporting a positive start to the ban are JD Wetherspoon, which has seen positive like-for-like sales in its English pubs since the start of the smoke ban on 1 July. Chief executive John Hutson says increased food orders are driving sales growth, as occurred in Scotland and Wales.
Of course food is not the only answer, but there is still a big uptapped opportunity for many pubs to generate revenue from simple food ideas, such as extending your offer beyond traditional serving times with smoothies, coffee, breakfasts, tea and quality snacks, all loaded with profit potential.
Coffee sales in pubs in particular continue to rise and rise, with many operators now having Starbucks in their eyes and trying to capture a share of the lucrative high-street coffee market. Greene King, for example, has recently teamed up with Coffee Republic to trial a number of coffee shop chain formats in some of its pubs in central London. So if you aren't already offering hot beverages perhaps now is the time to bring the idea to the boil. It is a simple, but effective, way of adding value to your pub's offer.
Halt this drift to haughty pretentiousness
There seems to be a breed of Hyacinth Buckets springing up across the pub market. Some operators are getting just too pretentious for their own pub's good. It is just wrong to be served a ploughman's on a Villeroy & Boch plate, or for breakfast to have a stingy, singular poached egg sitting atop toast with the crusts cut off (when you still have all your own teeth), as I experienced in two pubs recently. Shame on them and all those other gastropubs out there that are turning pubs into houses of haughtiness.
See you next month.
Jo Bruce, PubChef editor
Leave a message: 01293 610487 or email jo.bruce@william-reed.co.uk
Lucy Britner: 01293 610365 or email lucy.britner@william-reed.co.uk