What’s for lunch?
Do casual dining operators need to reinvent Sunday lunch?
It’s fair to say that 2016 delivered its fair share of shocks, surprises and disappointments. After over 40 years the country voted to leave the European Union, the citizens of America voted for a billionaire business man to be their 45th President and we said goodbye to well-loved celebrities such as David Bowie, Terry Wogan and Prince. When it comes to the eating out industry many of us were also surprised that this time last year Wetherspoons announced that they were no longer going to serve a traditional roast on Sunday’s. The 6th of March, Mothering Sunday, saw the last chance that Wetherspoons customers could get their hands on a traditional Sunday roast for around £7, which came complete with a glass of alcohol thrown in.
So what drove Wetherspoons to come to such a relatively significant decision?
The decline of the Sunday Roast at Home
The roots of Wetherspoons decision can probably be traced back to the underlying trend in the decline of the traditional Sunday roast in the home. Back in 2011 studies showed that more and more people were forgoing homemade meals and turning to ready-made or fast food options in order to save time and money. One in five men and women surveyed said that they were less likely to cook a traditional roast than they would have been ten years earlier. It was also clear that this trend had been accelerating rather than slowing in more recent years.
In 2012 a poll of almost 2,000 grocery shoppers found that as many as 60 per cent of them no longer cook a roast on a weekly basis, with around 30 per cent doing so less than once a month. Subsequent surveys have come to similar conclusions.
One imagines that Wetherspoons have seen this change in behaviour migrate into their own estate. With numbers of covers down it was probably difficult for them to deliver the commercials they needed whilst still maintaining the expected low all-inclusive retail price. Removing it from the menu being preferable to suffering the media and customer backlash that would have ensued if they had moved away from their ‘value’ offer and increased the price of their Sunday lunches.
So what’s driving this decline?
Driving the decline
As with any change in customer behaviour there isn’t usually one single reason which can be called out. That said in this case there are some fairly big and obvious things which spring to mind.
Whether we like it or not the speed at which we live our lives continues to gather pace. For those who even have time for breakfast it’s likely to be a slice of toast hastily consumed at home or something bought and eaten on the way to work. Lunch too has become a thing of the past for many. During the week it more often than not consists of a sandwich in front of a computer screen or again missed out altogether. This mind-set then goes with us into the weekend. Sundays use to be a day of rest and relaxation not least because the odd garden centre aside nothing much else was open. Nowadays it is as likely to be a day out at the shops, playing, watching or participating in a sport or other leisure activity.
Gone are the days when people would have the time or indeed patience to prepare and cook a meal which usually takes a good couple of hours to create. Some commentators also point to the fact that many us have just become too lazy and are shunning the work involved to do a Sunday lunch, replacing it with the convenience of ready meals.
So what can operators do to mitigate or take advantage of this trend?
Things to consider
As with most other western economies the UK has an aging population. Although the average age of new mums is around 28 this still means that more and more families now consist of multiple generations. At the same time the size of the average house has reduced significantly. This is particular true of big towns and cities with a study in 2014 by a major London estate agent reporting that the size of the average kitchen in the capital had shrunk by a third since the 1960’s.
Many casual dining operators are well suited to provide a great place for these bigger multi-generation families to get good quality time together. The key is to create a relaxed friendly environment to openly encourage these families to come back to you on a regular basis. Tailoring menus and perhaps waiving usual group service charges are both worth considering as part of this. The right staff can also play an important role in creating the right atmosphere, especially if your Monday to Saturday offer is more high energy.
Wetherspoons decision notwithstanding there is a view that we Brits’ still love the idea of a traditional roast and not just on Christmas Day. What is crucial here is to be able deliver something to your customers that they can’t or are unlikely to get at home. This could include offering multiple course options, something less and less of us do at home, or even thinking about the good old-fashioned carvery where customers can decide on their meat of choice at the very last moment.
Last but by no means least there is the option to re-invent a new style of Sunday lunch tradition which customers can get behind. Regardless as to whether you serve up Italian, Indian or some other food genre, having the same menu each day of the week risks missing out on an opportunity to drive incremental Sunday trade. Having a specific Sunday menu provides the opportunity to create some additional theatre and authenticity around your offer which those around you may not be able to match.
This approach can also allow you to explore different regional dishes which you may not feel would have the same appeal if offered on a weekday.
The most important thing is whichever route you decide to take the key is to communicate your offer in a simple and engaging way and then deliver on that offer 100%.
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