Urban Eat relaunches its Roots range.

UK food to go brand, Urban Eat, has reintroduced its plant-based range, Roots, with a fresh look and tantalising NPD to entice sandwich lovers everywhere, say the company.

Launched on 9 January 2023 across OOH channels, Roots from Urban Eat consists of two sandwiches - a tangy Cheeze and Pickle with refreshing tomato and lettuce and a satisfying Falafel and Houmous, complete with vegan mayonnaise and crunchy salad.

The brand’s popular Tomato and Pesto wrap is also part of the range, along with a new option – a zingy and moreish Spicy Bean. The range has been carefully designed after extensive research and development from the brand to offer high quality, delicious plant-based options that appeal to a broad range of consumers, say the brand.

Abigail Nelson-Ehoff, brand manager, Urban Eat, said: “Our research shows that 65% of people in the UK are reducing meat from their diets (The Source/ Samworth Research) but they’re not willing to compromise on taste and quality to do so.

“When designing the Roots proposition, we therefore knew we didn’t want to launch ‘just another vegan sandwich’ – it was important to us to create a lunchtime offering full of flavour and variety that appeals to a broader target audience than just those with a vegan diet. Resonating with flexible meat reducers as well as devoted meat excluders increases our audience by 50%, which in turn offers a bigger commercial opportunity for us and our customers.

“And we’re confident we’ve created a range of plant-based perfection which does just that! What’s more, with our striking new packaging, customers will be able to identify us easily in the chiller and understand what we offer – food that’s plant-based and big on taste.

“Launched to tie in with Veganuary, Urban Eat is supporting the Roots launch with sampling activities, retailer point of sale media and an extensive social media campaign.”

Urban Eat is a brand of Fresh Food For Now Company, part of the Samworth Brothers group, forming a dedicated team of food to go experts focused on bringing great tasting food to retailers across the UK. A nationwide company serving businesses everywhere, Fresh Food For Now Company supplies virtually any type of business whatever its location, from big city shops to rural communities and roadside service stations.

Recruitment challenge set to continue in 2023

Hospitality employers called on staff to work longer hours over the peak Christmas period, exclusive new figures from workforce management specialist, Bizimply, have revealed.

More than half of businesses report that Christmas and New Year trading was as strong as they’d hoped, as consumers came out to eat and drink with family and friends, with their data confirming that many operators asked employees to put in longer shifts.

“The recruitment challenge continues to be a key concern for hospitality employers,” said Bizimply chief executive Conor Shaw. “The realtime data from employees checking in and out of work shows that the hours worked by employees increased significantly across Christmas and the New Year.

“However, employers are also very aware that in the longer term, especially as the economy start to recover, they will need to recruit new employees to expand their existing teams. Almost a third of employers have told us they expect no improvement in the problems of recruiting front-ofhouse staff in the year ahead, rising to almost two-thirds who expect to see no improvement when it comes to recruiting kitchen staff.”

Bizimply analysed customer data from hundreds of its hospitality customers in the UK and Ireland, equating to thousands of outlets and tens of thousands of employees, across all sectors of the hospitality industry including pubs, bars, restaurants, hotels, cafés and fast food outlets.

Responding to the latest ONS labour market data, UKHospitality chief executive, Kate Nicholls, said: “The figures reinforce the challenging recruitment landscape hospitality businesses are facing, with vacancy rates still 63% higher than pre-pandemic levels. This continues to restrict the ability of businesses to trade and our recent Future Shock Report illustrated the impact that is having, with businesses restricting trading hours, reducing opening days and simplifying menus as a result of staffing shortages.

“Wages in the sector have been steadily rising for a long time, reflecting the efforts of businesses to both attract staff and keep up with inflation. Our latest quarterly survey showed staff pay was up 12%, joining energy, food and drink as the most significantly rising business costs.

“There is not a silver bullet to solve this recruitment crisis but we do need to see ambition from Government, ranging from investment in skills, apprenticeships and education to immigration solutions where necessary.

“If the sector is able to access the people it needs to fill essential roles, businesses will be able to trade more freely and return to their potential to deliver economic growth and create even more job opportunities.”