Time to Takeaway
The Elm Tree

Kelly Crawford has been managing the Elm Tree in Farnham, Surrey, since March this year. It is a local community pub with a wide variety of customers, ranging from young families to senior citizens. Kelly welcomed the opportunity to become a pub expert for Moy Park Foodservice and trialled two menus; "Time to Share" and "Time to Takeaway" both of which were available all day, right up until half an hour before closing; 11pm weekdays and 12pm at weekends. "Time to Share" consisted of three sharing platters which included various combinations of Crunchy Chick 'n' Mini Fillets, Chicken Wings, Roast Chicken Drumsticks, Cajun Coated Onion Rings, Classic Coated Onion Rings, Garlic Mushrooms and Brie Wedges and the "Time to Takeaway" menu consisted of Chickwich™ Steak Burgers, Southern Fried Chick 'n' Dixie™ and Tortilla Wraps made with Crunchy Chick 'n' Mini Fillets.

Both menus proved popular with customers, especially at the weekend, with spend per head increasing by as much as £4.50 in the evenings, some of which can be attributed to an increase in wet sales as customers stayed longer to enjoy the late night menu and purchased a drink to go with their food.

The images on the eye-catching posters and POS material provided by Moy Park Foodservice showed exactly what the customers could expect and Kelly found the products were simple to prepare. "The bar staff all pitched in to help as we don't have a chef but they found it easy and learnt very quickly. We will definitely keep it going!"

Consequently, Kelly is convinced that she will attract more people to the Elm Tree by keeping the menus from Moy Park Foodservice as a regular feature.

Kelly's top tips for pubs wanting to offer food later on in the evening
Ensure you have high-impact POS to advertise the evening menu Put tempting tasters on the bar for customers to try Use good-quality easy to prepare products that are ready in minutes Offer food already on the menu for take-away to increase profits Display eye-catching POS and do some local leaflet drops promoting the take-away Ensure you have the right packaging for take-away food