Warwick Retail
changes and challenges
Mark Potter – Retail Operations Director
Vicki Boyd – Retail Manager - Cafes, Bars
& Restaurants
Background
Commercial division of the University
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Cafes
Shops
Bars
Restaurants
1. The Bar
Bar Fusion
Costa (Compass)
2. Cafe Bar
Theatre Bar
Gusto Oven & Bar
3. Cafe Gibbet Hill
4. Cafe Library
Library Coffee Bar
5. Cafe Social
6. Westwood Cafe
(Compass)
7. Cafe Humanities
8. University House
Costcutter
Manage contracts for:
Pharmacy, Hairdressers ,
Costa Units in WBS &
Milburn House
Interesting numbers...
Each week we:
sell over 7000 sandwiches
make more than 13000 hot drinks
cook over 7000 meals
prepare 1600+ breakfasts
serve over 6000 customers in Costcutter each day
and sell more than 7500 books in The Bookshop
each day at the start of term
Survey 2011
• In March 2011 we undertook the “Eating and
Drinking around Campus” survey
• Over 700 responses
Respondents
• Ratio
Staff 42%
Students 58%
• Location
Central campus 76%
University House 8%
Westwood 6%
Gibbet Hill 6%
Outlet usage
You said,
We did...
Dietary requirements
• 40% requested vegetarian diet
We serve vegetarian and vegan meals in our cafes
• 10% had food intolerances
All staff are going through “allergen aware” training
e.g. Gusto Oven & Bar offers gluten free pizza bases
• 10% requested halal diets
Some of our sandwiches are halal (ask staff)
Costcutter stocks a halal range
Food ethics
• “Organic food” and “Food miles” were rated
as least important
• “Ethically sourced” and “Fairtrade produce”
were rated as the most important
We use sustainable fish
Fairtrade coffee, tea and hot chocolate
Breakfast (You said...)
• 60% never buy breakfast
• Of those who did average spend was £2-3
• 33% said they could be encouraged to eat it
more often
• Main factor - price
Breakfast (We did...)
NEW OFFER
Breakfast
Special
£1.85
Lunch (You said...)
• 33% buy lunch less than once a week
• Of those who did average spend on lunch £3-4
• 65% could be encouraged to purchase lunch
more often
• Major factor was price, followed by variety
Lunch (We did...)
• Increased menu range and cycle
– from 29 dishes, to 68 dishes over 5 weeks
– dishes include: roast lamb shank, gammon and pineapple,
chicken kiev, vegetable samosas, leek and bacon bake,
corned beef hash, red thai curry & more
– new range of Crantock’s traditional pasties
• Lunchtime Meal Deal
- promote better value
• Lunchtime Loyalty Card
- reward loyalty
Dinner (You said...)
• Only 13% purchased dinner once a week or
more
• Of those who did average spend was £5-7
• 30% said they could be encouraged to
purchase dinner more often
• Major factor – price and variety
Dinner (We did...)
New restaurant open for
orders from 12pm – 9pm
Outlets (You said...)
• Top requested outlet was a salad bar
• Other top requests were more restaurants,
pizza outlets & ‘pub style’ food
• Brands or no brands?
Outlets (We did...)
• Introduced new salad bar at Costcutter
• Small box £1.99 / Large box £2.99
• Now serve pizza in the afternoon
Gusto Oven & Bar
Other areas...
New coffee bar at
University House
Extension at Cafe Library?
Eating at Warwick
(You said...)
• 97% had heard of the Eating at Warwick scheme
• Only 59% regularly used the card to make purchases
across campus
Qualitative feedback included
- Too complex to sign up (including uploading pictures)
- Minimum top up of £20
Eating at Warwick
(We did...)
• Sign up for Eating at Warwick has recently
been simplified
• Minimum online top up has been reduced
from £20 to £10 (cash top up £5)
• Move towards single card
Challenges
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We operate as a commercial business
Staffing costs higher than competitors
Purchasing framework
Multiple markets with different requirements
Thank you for listening.