Speaking of Summer

Well, it’s been a bit of a washout Summer so far which is never great news for the sector, but England’s nail-biting performance against Switzerland last Saturday certainly helped to boost revenue. According to the Oxford Partnership, sales were up 30% against Saturday averages this year, with stout serving as a surprise growth area with a massive 84% increase in sales.

Premises with a license to serve until 11pm have an automatic extension to 1am for tonight’s game against The Netherlands so let’s hope for bumper guest numbers as well as an impressive performance from the team! The same will apply if we make it to Sunday’s final.

Here’s hoping!

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The school holidays are imminent which always means high footfall for all-day dining venues. With events taking place throughout the day, the Olympics offer a double whammy of opportunity for increased Summer sales. Here are our top tips for making the most of the family-friendly season:

Tap into top trends

Unfathomable as it is to us old folk here at LSG, kids today love their bubble tea. For the uninitiated, bubble tea is sugary, iced drink with its origins in Taiwan. Tea varieties with sweet flavourings or toppings are combined with the texture of flavoured tapioca (boba) balls. Yes, you read that right, it’s a drink you end up eating!

Selling at up to £7 a pop, it might be worth a try. Our partner Brakes offer the basics to get you started, but we’ve also come across https://bobabuzz.co.uk who have a wide range of ingredients, recipes and advice*.

If you can’t face the tapioca (!), RH Hall offer slushie machines, and the internet is full of hacks for frozen and semi-frozen drinks that the main coffee brands offer, like this one for Costa’s mango and passionfruit cooler which works out at around 27p cost price per serving.

Extend the spend

Join us for some maths won’t you?…

Full F&B service means a full team. But a really simple ‘take out’ offering making use of eco-friendly disposables is all you need to get that all-day or beer garden income. Brakes and Bidfood both make this simple with their recipes and matching ranges, like Brakes Mac & Cheese with Pulled Pork, or Bidfood’s Vegan Chilli Nachos.

Don’t crack under the pressure

Increased traffic means increased pressure on your facilities. More power, more waste and more flushes of the loo. So make sure you are ready for the strain:

 – Double check that your circuit can cope with increased demand (a local electrician can help with this), and replace any dodgy cables

 – Inform your waste collection company if you anticipate a significant increase from usual

 – Initial Washrooms are the experts when it comes to keeping your bathrooms fit for demand – they can help with hand dryer’s, soap dispensing, air freshening and of course sanitary bin disposals. You might consider the increasing demand for the sanitary bins in the men’s toilets too.

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*Please note that Boba Buzz is not one of our supplier partners so whilst their range and knowledge looks great, we can’t answer for their product quality or customer service.