BAR FAVOURITES - The KINGS HEAD WITH GREGOR STEVENSON

Gregor Stevenson is chef, landlord and chief bottle-washer all in one and has been running the Kings Head in Fritwell, Oxfordshire, with the help of his assistant manager and two other members of staff, for 7 years. Prior to that Gregor was a professional photographer who learnt to cook from his Gran and simply, "wanted a change of direction."

If you ask Gregor what the burning issues of his day are, he will tell you that his wet sales are down 8% YOY and all he hears about from suppliers and customers is 'doom and gloom' and what the Chancellor has done to the price of beer. But Gregor is a man with a cheery disposition and a positive attitude. His approach to the 'doom and gloom' is to try new things, which is why he wanted to trial the Bar Favourites menu from Moy Park Foodservice. By being proactive, such as doing leaflet drops locally to promote his food offer, he has managed to increase his food sales by 3% YOY and regularly achieves his target food cost of between 55-60%. One such example of Gregor's success is the Senior Citizens' Lunch Club which was held every month at The King’s Head. This has proven to be so popular at £5.50 for two courses that it is now a weekly event and Gregor regularly cooks for up to 20 covers!

The King's Head (established in 1652 and one of the Enterprise Inns estate) is, says Gregor, "a true locals pub that is at the heart of the community and is here for the people of the village to socialise over a drink and a bite to eat. We cater for a number of local groups here including the WI darts team, the football team, the rugby team and we even have our own Aunt Sally team!"

The food offering at The King's Head has not always been so popular though. The previous landlord had rented out the kitchen to a third party to produce Chinese takeaways and prior to that, there had been a period of no food at all so Gregor has had to work hard to win back villagers. At present, he offers a variety of freshly cooked, seasonal food, with steaks being the most popular item on the menu, sourced from a butcher 500 yards up the road. Gregor also grows his own salad, vegetables and herbs and can often be seen nipping out from the kitchen during service to pick them fresh!

Despite having a menu with almost everything being freshly prepared (yes, even the chips!), Gregor wanted to try the Bar Favourites menu. He explains, "The preparation of Moy Park Foodservice's products is so simple, it's unbelievable! This provided me with an opportunity to maintain a more varied food offer for customers on my day off, which could easily be prepared by the staff and was more than just a sandwich or a ploughman's!" This also meant that Gregor was able to offer food outside normal lunch and dinner service and so increase sales; "Some would-be drinkers only ordered from the Bar Favourites menu where they would have normally had crisps or nuts, making more profit for me!" he said.

The most popular items on the Bar Favourites menu were the Chickwich Steak Burger, served in a bap with fries or salad and onion rings for £5.95, and the Chicken Fajita Style Wrap, served with a side salad for £5.50. But other items, such as the Coated Brie Wedges, Crunchy Chick 'n' Mini Fillets, Natural Battered Onion Rings and Garlic Breaded Button Mushrooms were so well-liked that they will find themselves on Gregor's next main menu, due to be reviewed for the next season. "There is a place on every menu for some pre-prepared food. Bar Favourites has enabled me to keep my customers happy with a decent food offer when I am not here," says Gregor. "I will definitely be keeping elements of it after the trial is over."

Gregor's top 3 tips for other pubs wanting to maximize their food sales are:

If it's on the menu, make sure you have it available
Tell people what you do and market your offer; use table talkers or leaflet drops
Make it presentable. When food is delivered to a table it passes other potential customers in the pub so make sure it sells itself

To find out more about the range of Moy Park Foodservice products and to obtain your free "Bar Favourites" POS, log onto www.moyparkfoodservice.com or call the Prime Line on 0800 085 2749.