BHMA Blog

Cafe Rouge the popular French restaurant chain owned by Tragus has launched an express version of its winning concept.  Outside Euston station you will find French food on the go, catering for travellers and offering hot and cold baguettes, grilled sandwiches, salads and soups.   For the organised traveller with time on their hands there is stilll the ever popular steak and frites and at the other end of the scale if you’re in a real hurry you can always call ahead, place your order and collect it, just like a traditional French takeaway.

BHMA’s Marketing Store is currently working on their new a-board design which will be unveiled shortly, watch this space!

The blackboard was invented by James Pillans, headmaster of the Royal High School in Scotland.  He used it with colored chalk to teach geography.

The chalkboard/blackboard was in use in Indian schools in the 11th century as per Alberuni’s Indica (Tarikh Al-Hind), written in the early 11th century.  They used black slate tablets for the children in the schools, and wrote on them like we writon on our books today.  They used calcium sulphate (chalk) as we would have done before the explosion of the chalkboard pen.

The term “blackboard” dates from around 1815 to 1825 while the newer and predominantly American term, “chalkboard” dates from 1935 to 1940.

The chalkboard was introduced into the US education system in 1801.

Compared to Whiteboards chalkboards have a variety of advantages:

Chalk  requires no special care; whiteboard markers must be capped or else they  dry out.

Chalk  is much cheaper than whiteboard markers.

It  is easier to draw lines of different thicknesses with chalk  than it is with whiteboard markers.

Chalk  has a no smell, whereas whiteboard markers often have a pungent odour.

Chalk writing often provides better contrast than whiteboard markers, which  helps people read at a distance.

Having done some research on Menus recently, I am intrigued as to how often restaurants, pubs and hoteliers change their menus.

I can think of one Italian high street restaurant in particular, that I frequent with my family at least once a month, and I can honestly say I have never had the same plate of food twice, and that is without ordering from the specials. So is it best to have loads on the menu to start with and never have to change them, thus saving on time and paper. Or is it better to have a very basic menu and loads of specials that are written up on lovely chalkboards?

If you use chalkboards, do you have a sign writer to do them for you, or is it a working document that gets re-written after every service? The options for menus and advertising your wares are vast!

If you are changing the menu fairly often, let’s say weekly, do you use menu covers and then re-print your dishes on pretty card to insert? The added advantage of this is if they get covered in chocolate pudding, the menu covers are wipe clean and the inserts can be replaced.

Chalkboards, I always think are a lovely addition to any venue serving food. To me, it shows that the menu is being refreshed on a regular basis…using a specials board shows the ingredients are fresh.. Once they’ve gone, they’ve gone! Once the fish or pie of the day has gone, I can imagine the satisfaction of the chef telling his waitress to strike it off the ‘specials’ board! Do you make the menus all look the same; with clean lines and smudge-free using stencils and waterproof pens? Coloured chalk or the good old fashioned white stuff? Chalkboard Pens or proper chunky chalk?

Should menus be changed with The Seasons? quarterly – therefore encouraging chefs to use the freshest ingredients, giving them time to cost up and taste every dish before they present them to the public?

Do you keep a tally of best sellers, so you know which ones to keep and which ones to change?

Do you only change the menu when there is a price change on ingredients, or do you have inspiring young chefs that you allow to put one dish forward each month?

All these questions that go into deciding how often to change the menu… Who would have thought that writing out what we as customers can eat, would be such a challenge?

There is something quintessentially English about sitting in a beer garden after work, or whiling away the hours on a Saturday afternoon, cold beer in hand. The fresh air and sunshine somehow stimulate social conversation, resulting in a friendly atmosphere, and repeat business.It is not just the smokers you are catering for… children are not allowed into most public houses, so what better way to promote your venue and boost sales, than extending your external areas.

Making use of the outside space of your venue makes sense in more ways than one, so why waste the opportunity to get more customers through the doors?

You will not only be wanting comfort and style but a practical space. Adding plants and decorative pieces will add to the atmosphere, while it also lends itself to advertising your offers and upcoming events.

You also need to be able to make the area user friendly and convenient.

If you serve food inside your venue, will you be serving it outside too? With the use of condiment holders, baskets and chalkboards, you will be making ordering easy for your customers.

Are you the sort of person who orders the same everytime? – The safe option? Or do you always order something different; perhaps something you wouldn’t be able to achieve at home? Do you order from the Specials board?

If only two course are available, do you have a starter and a main, or a main and a pud? Hmmm decisions decisions.

With Spring upon us, what can we expect to see on the menu? Should we be choosing seasonal produce like wood pigeon, watercress, spinach and crab? Or will you be sticking with the old classics despite the seasons; scampi and chips, burgers or a good ol’ egg and mayo sandwich?

According to Wikipedia, the first restaurant menus arose roughly one millennium ago, during the Song Dynasty in China – the only region of the world at the time where paper was abundant. At this time, many merchants often congregated in city centres and had little time or energy to eat during the evening. Because of the large variation found in Chinese cuisine from different regions, the restaurants could no longer cater to the local palates, giving rise to the menu.

The word “menu,” like much of the terminology of cuisine, is French in origin. It ultimately derives from Latin “minutus,” something made small; in French it came to be applied to a detailed list or résumé of any kind. The original menus that offered consumers choices were prepared on a small chalkboard, in French a carte; so foods chosen from a bill of fare are described as “à la carte,” “according to the board.”

Summer time has officially started.  Did you forget to put your clocks forward like I did?  I’m glad I am not the only one..

I spent the weekend tidying out cupboards, turning mattresses, sorting out the shed (mainly to find the deckchairs and the BBQ) and having a general ‘spring clean’.  We do it at home, but do we ever get round to it at work?

Maybe we ought to be showing the British public we are all open for business.  I don’t necessarily mean just banners, but a jolly good clean too.  Show them we mean business.  We are, after all expecting an influx of business in the lead up to the Olympics, so let’s show our visitors, that we may be small in size, but mighty in hospitality.  It might mean a new chalkboard to replace the one that’s been left outside all winter long. 

Perhaps new bedroom folders or new poster frames for the loos.  Sometimes its the small things that can brighten up the place and give your venue a new lease of life.  

Are you lucky enough to have an outside area for your customers?  It could be a few courtyard tables, a full beer garden, or somewhere small and bijoux – lets face it, any outdoors space for people watching, or cyclists & dog walkers to rest their weary feet is worth its weight in gold. 

Celebrate, advertise your little paradise… A boards are brilliant and eye catching.  If you offer food, maybe a new condiment holder is what you are after?

I must admit when I go out to pubs or stay away from home,  it is definitely the smaller changes made or the fact they have invested in a new banner, that catches my eye.  That and the customer service.. but I think that’s enough for one blog!

  The BHMA Marketing Store Competition for the best back bar display!

 It’s a fact that back bar displays increase sales and profit. 

 Let’s see how your displays look and tell us how they affected your sales.

We are looking for Style  Impact  Creativity  Inventiveness  Flair 

Whatever you have done with your displays, we want to see them…

 There is money at stake! – £100 to spend at our selected on-line shop Pretty Maison. (www.prettymaison.co.uk)

 Simply send us your displays to Rachael@bhma.co.uk who will judge the effectiveness of the displays, and select the winner. 

Wine Cradle

 

 

 

 

 

Display Blocks

 

Closing date is 30th April 2012.

 If you need any equipment to assist you in the competition, look here

 

 

 

As a business we have to be one step ahead of the game don’t we?

 Here’s our advice on promotions…

Definition of a Promotion – To give a heightened awareness to a product/s

 Planning a Promotion for Profit

A successful promotion must make you additional profit, either in money terms or in terms of creating loyalty and the return visit.

 Types of Promotions

Price promotion – Where the price is obviously slashed. Gives good sales at the time, but when the price returns to normal the customers stops buying for a while. Best practice, cut the price, sell fast and remove the product completely.

 Disguised price promotion – Where you give more for the same price, buy a can of lager for instance with 33% extra free. When the 33% is removed the customer still buys at the same rate as they did before.

 Timed – Where there is a start and finish time to the promotion, happy hour is an example, increases trade at the time, but may move the trade from another time.

 Launch – Where the product is unheard of. Simply conducting an awareness campaign through word of mouth, merchandising, advertising to generate the new sales.

 Loyalty – Where your sole objective is to get long term repeat custom, by rewarding customer loyalty. Sometimes a club is formed.

 Collectors’ Items – Where is set of something is available, usually one of the set is harder to get than the rest, prompting repeat purchasing to achieve the complete set, or reward.

 Coupons – Where a coupon can be redeemed or spent solely at your business.  The coupon may be advertised by others for use at your business.

 Making Money from the promotion

Based on your normal profit level being achieved within the promotion, on all stock sold, you must aim at a minimum of ‘three times’ the total outlay of the promotion being in the till, excluding VAT (in addition to your normal takings) at the end of the promotion, to be able to say the promotion was a success. Make sure you count the costs of the promotion thoroughly; you must include everything, additional wages, giveaway food, and anything else you have laid on for the promotion.

 Evaluating Your Promotion

Evaluation is the key part of planning promotions. It enables you to understand what makes a ‘good promotion’. Learning from mistakes is an essential part of the process of evaluation.

 Feedback

Customers will have comments regarding your promotions, it is essential to listen and take from the comments all the statements that may help you improve the next one.

I know, I know Christmas is only just out of the way and now you have to think about advertising Valentine’s Day Specials. Why not let us take the strain? We have chalkboards, stencils sets, and chalkboard pens. Banners from £2 per square foot. What could be simpler for advertising your events?

Our menu holders and our new Verde Easel are perfect for advertising in the lobby or entrance hall.

Perhaps complete the look with heart shaped table number stands, and willow bread baskets to boot. Whatever your business needs, we can help. We can make most things bespoke with your company logo, just give us a call 01353 665141 or send us an email enquiries@bhma.co.uk