Food Business Boosters
Summer party and hog roast
Where: Lamb at Satwell, Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, www.thelambpub.net
The idea: Annual summer party with hog roast. Owner Chris Smith says: “Our annual summer party is now in its third year and is a great way of thanking our loyal customers for their continued support. Entry is free and we offer live music, a hog roast and barbecue, and an outside bar.”
What we needed: “We inherited a huge, purpose-built bar and barbecue area from our predecessors and invested in two large gazebos for last year’s event. We have our own hog roast machine and fortunately, as I also work in the music industry, managed to borrow the audio equipment for free. The band and additional staffing cost us no more than £500. The hog roast was served in ciabatta buns with apple sauce, crackling, stuffing, twice-cooked chips and mixed salads, and we also offered steaks, lamb kebabs, local sausages, tuna, and prawns from the grill. We normally have at least three real ales on, including locally brewed Loddon Leaping Lamb and guest beers that change every few days, but on the night we increased this to five. The event was advertised via our Facebook page and Twitter feeds, as well as e-flyers to our database. We also placed an advert in the local paper and an A4 newsletter insert in another local paper, which was delivered to 1,200 local homes. Advertising cost us £250 in total.”
Business benefits: “The summer party is our biggest event and this year we had between 200 and 250 people attending, boosting takings by at least 125%. As it was an outdoor event spend per head was lower, but drink sales more than made up for any shortfall. The party generates a lot of goodwill, with customers talking about it for weeks afterwards, and we like to think that it helps to fill our reservations book for the months ahead.”
Top tip: “It’s all in the planning — if the event is not executed with military precision you run the risk of annoying customers if they cannot get served quickly, park easily, have somewhere to sit, or see the band clearly.”
Asparagus festival
Where: Beckford Inn, Beckford, near Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire www.thebeckford.com
The idea: Annual asparagus festival with asparagus-themed menus. Owner Jane Mears says: “We are situated on the edge of the Vale of Evesham, famous for its English asparagus and home of the British Asparagus Festival. We started our own festival two
years ago, when we bought the business, running it from mid April for around two months, depending on supply. During the festival we offer a changing separate menu, which has asparagus in every dish. Examples include asparagus and prawn Thai stir fry, chargrilled swordfish steak on a bed of asparagus served on a tomato salsa, wild mushrooms and asparagus on a bed of tagliatelle bound in a fresh herb pesto sauce, and asparagus wrapped in Black Forest ham topped with a poached duck egg.”
What we needed: “We always start running the menus a couple of weeks before the Evesham festival as we have a friendly farmer who cuts his first crops earlier, just for us. Promotion is in-house on our website and with posters and table leaflets, as well as using A-boards on the road side. We don’t tend to buy specific adverts for the festival, instead using our annual memberships to promote it with the local Best of Tewkesbury and Best of Evesham websites, the local tourist agencies, the Les Routiers website and via our own newsletter, which goes out to our extensive email list.”
Business benefits: “The Evesham asparagus season is very special for the whole of the area and we probably get around 200 people eating asparagus each week in season, sometimes many more. Customers love to see us supporting local producers and we know that, by buying local, the produce will be the freshest and best around. The festival may not increase our trade significantly, but it adds to our reputation.”
Top tip: Develop a good relationship with your local supplier, ensuring that you are the first to receive the new crop, to gain a competitive edge.
Garden tours
Where: Felin Fach Griffin, Brecon www.eatdrinksleep.ltd.uk
The idea: Kitchen garden tours with barbecue. Assistant manager Rhodri Morgan says: “Following the success of last year’s tours, we decided to offer two more Friday trips around our organically certified kitchen garden this year; one in July and another in September. At the end of each tour visitors were offered a barbecue and cocktails on the lawn at a cost of £15 per person.”
What we needed: “The trips started at 7.30pm and were accompanied by our head gardener and head chef. The July tour focused on strawberries, garden peas and broad beans, while the second date looked at late summer vegetables such as sweetcorn, cabbage, beetroot, onions, leeks and squash, and orchard fruit. During the tour our gardener answered questions on the raised bed methods he uses, while our head chef talked about how he uses the produce. Each tour was followed by a selection of summer
drinks made from the garden’s produce, with strawberry and raspberry-themed canapés, a barbecue using meat from local producers served with salads and fresh vegetables from the garden, plus home-made strawberry and blackcurrant desserts. Advertising was via our newsletters, on our bill covers, by word of mouth, on the blackboards in the bar and emails to our database.”
Business benefits: “We limited numbers to a maximum of 30 people and were fully booked on the first tour. Feedback from people was really positive and there was definitely a lot of good feeling about the tours. We started sourcing our food locally long before it became fashionable and using our own produce is a big part of what we do. The tours help to promote this philosophy.” The Felin Fach Griffin is also a founder member of the Sustainable Restaurant Association.
Top tip: Advertise extensively in the locality and encourage local people to get involved.
