Customers still

Consumers still hungry for eating experiences

In its Unchartered Waters report, Omne foodservice agency has detailed the ongoing pressures facing food and hospitality operators, as well as some brand new consumer research, and the opportunities to drive growth through consumers’ hunger for new experiences.

They found that 79% of operators are ‘concerned’ or ‘very concerned’ about the cost of living crisis. Food inflation is up 18.8% YoY (up from 15% in August) and soaring energy and labour costs combined with rising staff pay (+10% over the last twelve months) has added heat to the kitchen.

In contrast to these pressures, Unchartered Waters focuses on opportunity and the importance of the new.The report shows that 39% of consumers have not visited a new hospitality venue in the last year. However, there is still a clear hunger for ‘new’ compared to 2021 - as 62% of consumers are now more likely to try a new dish when out.In their full report, Omne reveals five key actions that food and hospitality operators can implement to fit in with consumer’s midcrisis desire for new.

Quality is key

When consumers are offered a choice between a cheaper meal that is greater value for money or a more expensive meal that is better quality, over two thirds (65%) opt for the latter.Quality and value for money are intertwined in the minds of consumers. 44% of consumers define value for money as “something which is good quality” - whereas only 13% define it as “the cheaper option”, they found.Premiumisation is an effective way for operators to tap into this attitudinal shift.

Demonstrate ethical and sustainable thinking

Sustainability is rising up the agenda for modern consumers. Omne’s research reveals that 79% of consumers agree, or strongly agree, that a venue’s sustainable practices have become more important than a year ago. Sustainability is a tangible driver of business growth. Visible sustainable practices pay dividends in driving loyalty and boosting a venue’s reputation - as 42% of consumers will recommend sustainable venues to family and friends.

A little goes a long way

Experience is everything in hospitality. Consumers notice when venues put in extra eff ort. 64% of consumers agree that being able to try new food items enhances their overall going out experience - and 91% consumers describe having new or diff erent food choices as “more important” to the overall eating experience compared to last year.

Enhancing the value for experience

Experience amplifi es the value of the products. And Omne’s research shows that it is also a key driver of loyalty and repeat visits - with 67% of business leaders ranking experience as second only to service as the most infl uential driver of consumer visits in 2022.

Establishing innovative collaboration with suppliers

Supply chain issues and rising costs are increasing the pressure on venues. Omne’s data shows that 53% of venues are considering working with fewer suppliers or rationalising their supply bases. When asked how suppliers could help food and drink operators, the answer was overwhelmingly through competitive pricing (74% of all respondents) - with this fi gure rising 10% YoY.

Anna Massey, strategy director at Omne, commented: “These are challenging times for food and hospitality businesses. But as this report shows, when the market changes, new opportunities for growth emerge. And there is a clear opening for the businesses who focus on consumer’s growing desire for ‘new’. New menu options, new experiences - and a renewed approach to sustainability.”

Pizza Punks offer some festive deals

The unlimited-topping, San Franciscan sourdough pizza brand, Pizza Punks, has launched two new inflation-busting festive deals in time for Christmas.

Pizza lovers can enjoy a festive feast this December with the return of the Pigs in Blankets pizza - not your typical pigs as they are candied in hot chilli honey - or try the popular Christmas Dinner pizza.

Order a starter and any Punk’d up pizza or pasta dish, plus a pint of Pravha or glass of Prosecco for only £25 per person.For those who want to get the Punk’d party started, opt for a starter, any Punk’d up pizza or pasta and four pints of Prahva or glasses of Prosecco, at only £40 per person, say the pizza makers.

Pizza Punks describe themselves as advocates of freedom and expression, offering a distinctive pizza and pasta experience – create your own - with 35 unlimited toppings to choose from, all made from scratch in the Pizza Punks’ kitchens, ready to enable personalised punked up pizza or pasta, and all for one flat fee.

The non-conformist, pizza independent has doubled its sites in 2022, now serving punked up pizza across the UK, in cities including Glasgow, Belfast, Newcastle, Leeds, Leicester, Durham, Liverpool and Nottingham.

Trip to Milan on offer to top pastry chefs

Following a successful collaboration with NOWAH, the UK’s exclusive distributor of Kemplex dough sheeters, the Craft Guild of Chefs and ‘Passion to Inspire’ have revealed that they will each be offering an educational visit to the pastry school in Milan run by Pastry World Cup champion, Massimo Pica, as part of their awards programmes in 2023.

Pastry chef graduates from the Craft Guild of Chefs Graduate Awards will be invited to experience this unique trip, as will the winner of the Young Pastry Chef 2023 competition organised by ‘Passion to Inspire’.

Representatives of both organisations were amongst a group of leading chefs who attended a recent trip to the school in Milan, organised by NOWAH. Other chefs on the trip included Sarah Frankland, executive pastry chef at Pennyhill Park Hotel, Andrew Ditchfield, executive pastry chef, House of Commons and Mathieu Dias, head pastry chef, Brown’s Hotel London.

“On behalf of the Craft Guild of Chefs I was thrilled to be asked to put together a talented group of young pastry chefs to experience this amazing educational trip,” said Craft Guild vice president, Steve Munkley. “The feedback from the chefs who attended has been outstanding, with the highlight obviously being the opportunity to learn from a pastry making master.”

“The sole purpose of the NOWAH Milan Experience is to provide gifted young professional chefs with an inspirational personal development and growth opportunity,” said NOWAH director, Youli Chrysikaki. “Through our association with Kemplex, and Massimo, we are delighted that going forward we will be able to offer this amazing experience to young, talented, British pastry professionals via The Craft Guild and ‘Passion to Inspire.’” During the two-day experience the chefs worked on a range of different pastry skills including panettone making (Massimo used his own mother yeast/lievito madre), bean-to-bar chocolate work, including an introduction to the stages involved in the chocolate making process such as roasting and nib grinding, and Viennoiserie creation during which pastry was prepared using Kemplex dough sheeters.

Commenting on the trip, Sarah Frankland said: “What an absolutely fantastic experience it was. Massimo was a wonderful teacher and the way the class was run really gave us time to use and then see the Kemplex products in use. The content was really exciting, with a perfect pace of learning and support from Massimo’s team. I know this will be a fantastic experience for any young chefs lucky to be able to join in the future.”

Andrew Ditchfield, executive pastry chef, House of Commons, added: “This was an amazing learning experience. The demonstrations from Massimo were incredibly in-depth and he and his team made them very easy to follow. All the chefs were sharing information, ideas and helping to problem solve - it was so good to see!”

Caffè Nero and Too Good To Go save food from going to waste

Food saving app, Too Good To Go, and independent premium coffee brand, Caffè Nero, have announced that their partnership in the UK and Ireland has now saved 250,000 bags of food from going to waste.

Caffè Nero and Too Good To Go first launched their partnership in the UK in October 2019. Since then, the partnership has grown from strength to strength, including launching in Ireland in September 2021.

Caffè Nero stores say that they have always operated with tight waste controls, meaning each store on average only produces a small number of sandwiches or pastries as food waste per day. Cumulatively across the whole estate, the announcement means that since the partnership started, consumers have now rescued 250 tonnes of Caffè Nero food from being wasted across the UK and Ireland. The partnership has also saved 625,000 kilograms CO2e emissions (the equivalent to that emitted from 123 flights around the world, it is claimed).

Will Stratton-Morris, CEO Caffè Nero UK, commented: “Our partnership with Too Good To Go is a key part of our CSR strategy and focus on minimising food waste. Our priority is always to produce as little food waste as possible through effective waste controls and smart ordering. Partnering with Too Good To Go means the small amount of waste each store generates can be used and can help customers during these difficult times.”

Sophie Trueman, managing director UK & Ireland at Too Good To Go, added: “We’re thrilled to have reached this incredible milestone. Caffè Nero’s commitment to fighting food waste has made them the perfect partner for us, and it’s amazing to see the significant impact we are driving together. Saving delicious food from going to waste not only carries huge benefits for our planet, but it can also be a great help in coping with the rising food costs we’re experiencing at the moment. I can’t wait to see our partnership continue to flourish and rescue even more good food from going to waste.”

Free to download, Too Good To Go is the innovative app that lets consumers buy surplus food and drink from retailers, restaurants, cafés, pubs and producers to stop it from going to waste. The concept is simple. Businesses simply update the app to show how much surplus food they have to sell. Customers then search the app for local stores, purchase their bag of food for a fraction of its original retail value, and collect at the pre-set time to take home and enjoy.

Severn Trent thanks local businesses for preventing FOG from entering drains

With the world’s eyes on the West Midlands this year, Severn Trent has thanked commercial kitchens who continued to do their bit to protect the Severn Trent sewer network.

In the lead up to the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games earlier this year, Severn Trent, in collaboration with contract partners ECAS, wrote to 579 foodservice establishments in areas where Birmingham 2022 events would be taking place, including Birmingham, Warwick, Wolverhampton and Sutton Coldfield, to provide top tips on FOG (fat oil grease) management.

And thanks to the proactive work of Severn Trent and ECAS, good kitchen practices, and the installation of grease trapping equipment, it is estimated that 70,000 litres of FOG were prevented from going down the drains over the course of the Games, as elite athletes from around the world descended upon the second city three months ago for 11 days of world-class sport.

Severn Trent clears around 30,000 blockages across the entire region each year, a large proportion of which are caused by fats and food waste escaping down kitchen plugholes and drains, where it binds together with all the other things that end up in the sewer rather than the bin to create huge lumps, known as ‘fatbergs’, which block the sewers. These blockages can cause sewage to back up into people’s homes, the street or even into the local environment.

The water and waste company has reported that in five years of working with ECAS, 8.7 million litres of fat, oil and grease (FOG) have been saved from clogging up the region’s pipes.

Grant Mitchell, from Severn Trent, said: “We’d like to thank the foodservice establishments that do all they can to trap FOG and do their best to make sure our sewer pipes are free from blockages, especially in these difficult times for businesses.

“The fact that we’ve collectively trapped enough FOG over the past five years to fill over three Olympic sized swimming pools is testament to how businesses are doing their bit to stop FOG from entering our sewers, and we would encourage others to follow their lead.”

Severn Trent advises waiting for cooking fats, oils and greases to cool before disposing of them in the bin and only flushing the three P’s – pee, paper and poo – anything else should go in the bin.

“When fats, oils and greases enter our sewer network, they can attach to other things that shouldn’t be flushed, such as wipes and sanitary products and quickly block sewer pipes, which can cause real issues – especially if it happens on the private network as that’s the property owner’s responsibility to fix,” Grant Mitchell added.

Family franchisees open latest Papa John’s in Wakefield

A family franchise has opened a new Papa John’s in Wakefield, Yorkshire.

Multi-unit franchisees and husband and wife team, Mandy Kaur and Chan Singh, now run eight Papa John’s with the help of their son Jashan who works as acting regional manager. The new Wakefield Papa John’s will create 10 new jobs in the region.

Mandy and Chan joined Papa John’s as franchisees in 2008 and also opened new stores in Timperley, Manchester and Castleford earlier this year. This franchising family now have an appetite for expansion.

“Now our own children have grown up, the opportunity for us to expand our Papa John’s franchise was too good to refuse. Our son Jashan has now joined the family firm too, looking after overall regional operations,” said Mandy Kaur.

“For us, Papa John’s is one big happy family, and our success is all down to our team. We are proud to have been able to promote three of our long-standing team members to become area managers and we have another area manager currently in training. It’s great to see people excel and gain new skills and also that we can provide them with more opportunities to further their careers as we grow. Our goal is to open more Papa John’s over the next two years so there will be plenty more chances for promotion!

“We live within 30 minutes of Wakefield and have been planning to open here for about five years but just couldn’t find the perfect location! Horbury Road is a busy thoroughfare and now offers a prominent and convenient site with great parking, so we are really excited to be able to launch here for the local community to enjoy all Papa John’s has to offer!”

Before joining Papa John’s as franchisees fourteen years ago, Mandy ran children’s day nurseries and Chan managed a small department at a local cotton mill.

Amit Pancholi UK director of business development, Papa John’s commented: “Mandy and Chan’s energy and enthusiasm to grow their portfolio of Papa John’s is inspiring! It proves with the right business mindset and training from Papa John’s, multiunit franchisees can succeed without direct QSR experience. We now look forward to supporting them as they open further stores in the region over the next couple of years, enabling even more customers to share and enjoy the treat of fresh Papa John’s pizza with friends and family.”