Punch Taverns believes it has all the answers for licensees hungry to develop a new food offering.

The leased and tenanted pub company has unveiled Food Solutions, an innovative new scheme designed to help its retailers capitalise on the increasing popularity of pub food.

It includes seven different routes into the food market, which vary from simple snacks such as toasted sandwiches to complete meals and tailored menus.

All solutions are aimed at operators with little or no previous food experience.  Some can even be run from the back bar area to ensure pubs without existing catering facilities don’t miss out.

Punch’s catering development manager Steve Schaffer said: “For retailers new to the sector, starting out in pub food can be a daunting experience.  Food Solutions makes it simple by packaging everything together – equipment, ingredients, marketing material and so on.

“We’ve teamed up with some of the finest names in the industry and used our buying power to negotiate exclusive discounts for Punch Taverns pubs.

“Setting up a new food offering has never been easier.  And with profit margins of up to 75 per cent on certain solutions, the business benefits for our retailers are extensive.”

Punch retailer Pauline Dryden, who runs the Starting Gate in Newbury, Berkshire, is already using one of the Solutions – Gastroline from Klym’s, which uses innovative barcode scanning technology to ensure every dish is cooked correctly.

She said: “We have gone from zero food sales between Monday and Saturday to serving up to 15 meals a day.  The food is delicious and feedback from customers both old and new is really positive.

“The equipment is so easy to use I can offer food all day, run the pub single-handedly if needed or simply leave it in the hands of the bar staff.”

Punch Taverns is one of the UK’s largest operators of leased and tenanted pubs with 8,200 outlets.

Research suggests the UK pub food market is extremely buoyant.  Datamonitor reports Britons consume more than 18 billion meals every year out of the home and spend on average £312 per person a year on dining out.

Note to editors.  Punch’s seven Food Solutions are:

Toastabags: transform a toaster into a professional sandwich making machine using the ingredients of your choice.  This is probably the quickest, easiest and most cost effective way to get a basic food offering up and running.

Pies and Pasties: a range of handmade pies and pasties supplied frozen and ready cooked.  Ovens and warming cabinets can also be sourced.

Panini: a complete package, which includes pre-filled paninis, a grill and a marketing kit containing a swing sign, chalk boards, tent cards, posters, stickers and takeaway bags.

Pizza: up to ten different varieties of 28cm pizza plus a compact pizza oven which cooks two pizzas in around ten minutes.  POS material is also provided.

Indian: also called Spice Box, this solution includes quality Indian meals and accompaniments which cook in the microwave.  Retailers receive pre-printed menus, posters and carry out bags so they can provide a takeaway service.

Gastroline: complete meals cooked in minutes.  All food has a unique barcode – scan this into the special Gastroline combination oven and the item cooks automatically to perfection.  The system eliminates human error and wastage.

The Consultancy (Developing Winning Menus): a one to one service for retailers looking to develop a complete new menu.

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