Kelly Crawford has been managing the Elm Tree in Farnham, Surrey, since March this year.
The Fairway Traditional Inns-owned community pub attracts a wide variety of customers, ranging from young families to senior citizens. As it is the first time she has run a pub with food, Kelly welcomed the chance to trial new menu ideas with Moy Park Foodservice.
With the Elm Tree offering a lunchtime menu, Kelly was a little cautious when it was suggested that the pub would be an ideal candidate to trial takeaway food and late-night menus.
"The most popular dish on our lunchtime menu was sausage and mash, but during sporting events we'd put on a limited evening menu such as sausage and chips," she says.
"In the vicinity of the pub there's a Chinese takeaway, a fish & chip shop which closes early and a pizza delivery which is open until late.
"Usually customers will either leave the pub to get food on their way home or they will phone to get a pizza delivered to the pub. They will then either eat it on their way home or I usually allow them to eat it here as it keeps them drinking for longer."
Kelly ran two trial menus for Moy Park Foodservice - one billed as Time to Share and the other as Time to Takeaway, both of which were available all day until half-an-hour before closing time at 11pm on weekdays and midnight at weekends. Time to Share consisted of three sharing platters with various combinations of chicken, onion rings, garlic mushrooms and brie wedges. The takeaway menu included burgers, southern fried chicken, and chicken tortilla wraps.
Both menus proved popular with customers, especially at weekends. "We served more than 30 people from both menus during the short trial," says Kelly. "Our customers have been very supportive, trying the new menus and giving us honest feedback. We had repeat purchases and plenty of positive comments."
Spend per head increased by as much as £4.50 in the evenings, some of which can be attributed to an increase in wet sales as customers stayed longer and bought a drink to go with their food.
The images on the posters and point-of-sale (PoS) material provided by Moy Park Foodservice showed exactly what the customers could expect and Kelly found the products were simple to prepare.
"It couldn't be easier," she says. "The barstaff all pitched in to help as we don't have a chef but they found it easy and learnt very quickly. We will definitely keep it going!"
Following the trial, Kelly has continued to use the two menus. "There was a good price range and the products were just right for my customers," she says. Kelly's tips for pubs offering food later in the evening are to "ensure you have good PoS to advertise the fact and put some tasters on the bar to encourage customers to try.
"If you want to try food to take away, again advertise with good-quality PoS. Maybe do some leaflet drops in the local area and ensure you have the right packaging for takeaway food."