News

As food inflation levels reach as much as 20 percent on some items, pubs that are food-led are finding ever more creative ways to keep costs down, including different menu options and new cooking techniques.

Speaking to the Publican’s Morning Advertiser, Andy Wilkinson – boss of Clover Taverns – detailed some of the ways that wholesale food price rises were set to affect pubs, quoting increases such as up to 11 percent on frozen vegetables, 7 percent on chips and as much as 20 percent on other menu staples.

The price hikes haven’t been felt to quite the same extent by the UK pub food market’s largest buyer, Mitchells & Butlers, as highlighted by finance director Tim Jones in their most recent trading update.

‘Our experience of food cost inflation is running at about four percent. We think that’s some way below what the market is.’

Various measures have been adopted by different food-led pub operators to counter the developments, such as Innventure’s tactics of using vacuum-packed meat for more slow-cooked dishes, or bavette cuts of beef instead of rump steaks, keeping menu costs lower.

According to analyst Peter Backman, of Horizons, operators are selecting alternative products, such as beef instead of lamb, in an attempt to limit food inflation costs to around six percent, industry-wide. HE commented:

‘The question here is having a perspective on how much things cost. Sure, some items are rising so you have to cut your costs, but the point is not to cut quality.’