Ideas for driving food sales at your pub
Private function brunches
Where: Queen's Head, Brandeston, Suffolk
The idea: Licensee Alan Randall has been offering early morning coffee and pastries in an attempt to capitalise on the yummy-mummy market looking for somewhere to meet up after the morning school run. The initiative, which has been running for six months, has proved so popular that Randall has since received several approaches from customers looking to book the Adnams pub for private brunches. The pub is located near Brandeston Hall school. Although there are lots of coffee shops in nearby Framlingham, the pub gives them a different venue in which to meet. Randall says: "The idea of being able to socialise at such an early hour seems to have caught on."
How it works: The early morning brunches are tailored to the needs of the individual customer. For one customer, this was a Sunday morning Continental breakfast for 16 guests to include cereals, pastries, cheeses, cured meat, yoghurts and dried fruits and nuts with local honey, while for another a cooked brunch for 20 was the order of the day.
Business benefit: Randall says: "Our chef lives in and I arrive early, so it makes sense to use the pub to make money before we open for lunch. Word of mouth plays a big part as the bookings we have received have been as a direct result of our coffee mornings."
Top tip on making the idea work: Time the brunches to finish as the pub opens for lunch. That way the guests can carry their celebrations on into the bar.