Hot dogs predicted to become next food craze for pubs

Oisin Rogers, who manages the Ship at Wandsworth in south-west London — one of the company’s most profitable pubs — says the American snack is going to be “big”.

Brands such as Meat Liquor, The Gourmet Hotdog Company and Lucky Chip all serve the treat, while Champagne and hot dog concept Bubbledogs launches next month in Charlotte Street, Soho, central London.

“It’s not going to go away,” he said. “At the Ship we see trends first and hot dogs will be on the menu at some point.”

Mark Askew, former executive chef for Gordon Ramsay and current operations director for eight-site company Cirrus Inns, added: “I can see it catching on in higher-footfall, centrally-located pubs. There is always a market for everything you do as long as you do it properly.”

Foodservice consultancy Horizons has been tracking the growth of gourmet burgers for a while and director of services Paul Backman believes a gourmet hot-dog trend could be next.

“It’s still a small trend, yet to reach a tipping point, and we’re certainly not seeing the rise of a national chain based on hot dogs, but we’ll continue to watch with interest,” he said.

It may be some time before hot dogs hit the Ship menu because perfecting its burger, which makes 71% GP, took six months.

“There are more burger specialists moving into the marketplace,” said Rogers. “The ‘bad beef press’ has gone away and the quality of burgers has gone through the roof in the past two years.”