The Sir Roger Tichborne, in Loxwood, has installed an interactive touchscreen that allows customers to browse menu items and discover more about each dish, including the all-important allergy information.
Under the new Food Information for Consumers Regulation, which comes into force next Saturday (13th), pubs will need to provide information on 14 allergens used as ingredients for food. The digital allergy information board, supplied by Eclipse Digital Media, can be configured to display the information in different ways.
Menu choices
At the Sir Roger Tichborne, a main screen shows the different menus available, such as starters, mains and desserts. Once a menu is selected, customers are given a list of each of the dishes plus the relevant allergy information. Customers can then select a menu item and discover further information such as pictures, chef descriptions, pricing and – if available – full nutritional information.
Daily management of pricing and allergens is done via an Excel spreadsheet, which is uploaded to the cloud-based allergy information board software, embedsignage.com.
Eye catcher
A spokesperson for the pub said: “We visited the Restaurant Show in October and this digital allergy information board really caught our eye.
“It seemed like such an efficient way to deliver the allergy information and is incredibly easy to update, which saves us a huge amount of time.”
The same cloud-based system that controls the allergy information board is also used to display the daily specials’ information on two iPads and two 32-inch digital screens. Again, the content is updated using an Excel spreadsheet – a process that Frith claimed “has saved us at least an hour every day”.
Customer feedback
She added that customers have been commenting positively on the new changes. “We’ve been so happy with the feedback from our customers that we have recommended it to colleagues in the trade.”