Managed pubs still taking food share
The number of people eating out in pubs jumped during the first two weeks in September - but managed operators are still taking market share from the independent sector by keeping menu prices low.
The latest QuickBite survey of consumers, conducted by market analyst FMCG, shows an increase in the number of pub meals eaten during the first half of September, up 0.8 per cent by volume year-on-year.
The number of pub meals outgrew table service meals in the same period - suggesting that fears over the economy saw pubs benefit as consumers traded down from more upmarket restaurants.
However, FMCG director David Humphreys said managed pub groups had been the biggest beneficiaries.
"The principal contributor appears to have been the work put into their menus by the managed chains since the smoking bans in England and Wales came into effect, " he said.
"Moreover these findings contrast starkly with current reports of the scale of tenanted pub closures."
Confirming Humphreys' view, Mitchells & Butlers (M&B) this week reported like-for-like food sales up 3.6 per cent in the nine weeks to September 20.
With M&B, as well as rivals such as Spirit, Orchid and Greene King all fighting for market share, FMCG's regular Menurama survey of managed pub menus shows that year-on-year, the average price of a starter and main course has increased by just 0.2 per cent, despite much bigger increases in food prices and pubs' overheads.
Most consumers surveyed by QuickBite believe pubs have improved their food offer since the introduction of the smoking ban last year.
Humphreys said "new menus developed by brands such as Chef & Brewer, Vintage Inns and Greene King's Wayside Inns have proven a success with consumers.
"These operators deserve credit for some very good work in difficult times. Whilst there may be many critics of the managed pub food business model, it is nevertheless proving resilient and adaptable to tougher trading conditions."
He added: "With food sales now the biggest individual component of the best performing pubs, and with the beer tie now coming under increasing attack, one wonders why tenanted operators have not sought to exploit its advantages via a system of food operation franchising, to the mutual benefit of tenant and operator."
