30 Food: ice cream

The summer scoop

With summer approaching, ice creams will soon be in hot demand. Lesley Foottit explores 10 ways that licensees can help their icecream offer stand out.
Saucy sundaes
Kerry Foodservice offers a range of classic and Cornish ice creams and recommends that pub caterers shake up their dessert offer by adding indulgent sauces. Food development manager Gerard Murphy suggests drizzling up to three different flavours over ice cream to add a touch of variety and help build a sundae. Margetts Dessert Sauces include 10 flavours from chocolate and butterscotch to lemon and strawberry all available in squeezy 500g bottles. Another option is to stock plain ice cream flavours and blend them with Monin syrups. They are ideal for pubs, as they can be used to flavour ice creams as well as in cocktails and coffees, making them a cost-effective option, says Monin brand ambassador James Coston. Each bottle contains around 17 40ml servings, which works out at 34p each. The range comprises 100 syrups, giving pub chefs the freedom to create as many different flavoured ice creams as they see fit. More unusual flavours include bubble gum and apple pie for children and basil or hazelnut for adults. Alternatively, the sauces can be drizzled over ice cream before serving or mixed with milk
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into milk shakes. Pubs can easily charge upwards of 3 for a dessert and 5.50 for an alcoholic version, leaving them with a healthy GP, adds Coston.

Self-serve ice cream

Kerry Foodservices Murphy believes that self-serve ice-cream bars are a successful and modern way of driving dessert sales. It gives people the freedom to create their own sundaes and children love the chance to experiment with flavours. Customising food is really starting to take off in the UK, covering everything from coffee and burgers through to desserts, he says. Icecream bars are already popular in America, and some of the larger pub and restaurant groups have started to introduce them over here to great effect. It can be an incredibly costeffective way of creating a real buzz around your dessert menu. Simply offer a manageable selection of classic ice-cream flavours, a choice of different dessert toppings and a range of dessert sauces so customers can create their own ice-cream sundae. For pubs that are not able to install a self-service ice-

Ice-cream bars can be an incredibly cost-effective way of creating a real buzz around your dessert menu

cream bar, a similar effect can be achieved by highlighting the options on the menu and encouraging customers to mix and match. Pizza Hut, Whitbread brand Taybarns and Mitchells & Butlers brand Crown Carveries all use self-serve systems. Self-serve is very popular with customers and is in keeping with the self-serve carvery offer and excellent value price point that Crown Carveries provides, says a spokesman. Use of the machine costs 1.85 with free sauces available. Pots of sprinkles, honeycomb and marshmallows are charged at 30p extra.

Make your own

Many pub chefs who create everything from scratch are also making their own ice cream. Although not cheap, purchasing an ice-cream maker can pay dividends as chefs are given the freedom to experiment with seasonal varieties and icecream sales are likely to shoot up as customers spot home-made on the menu. Carpigianis new range of Labo XPL electronic batch freezers enable pub chefs to produce unusual fruit and artisan flavours or stay traditional with
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IMAGE: THINKSTOCK IMAGE: DELICE DE FRANCE

32 Food: ice cream

Retro-style desserts
Woodward Foodservice suggests adding extras to ice cream to up the appeal, such as After Eight mints or crushed Maltesers with hot chocolate sauce. For kids, add chopped up chocolate bars, sprinkles or coulis and, for adult customers, liqueurs add premium appeal. Italian lemon-flavoured liqueur limoncello or Baileys both work well and the Baileys Scoop is also a simple but effective option a medium measure of Baileys poured over a single scoop of quality ice cream in a glass tumbler. Incorporate ice cream into coffee menus to add interest and value. A caf affogato is easy to prepare by pouring a shot of coffee over a scoop of vanilla ice cream a popular choice after a heavy main. The last couple of years has also seen the comeback of retro desserts, such as banana splits, Arctic Roll and Viennetta. Customers will order a dish through nostalgia so it is worth having some old childhood favourites on pub menus. Mitchells & Butlers Harvester brand has a section for sundaes on its menu, including the Rocky Horror, Honeybomb Explosion, Lemon Blizzard and a changing Month of Sundaes special. Premium ice-cream brand Mvenpick recommends tapping into the trend for retro puds by introducing an ice-cream sundae bar with ice creams, sorbets, sauces and toppings for customers to build their own dessert. Ice-cream scoops can be added to dessert sharing platters, which are popular recent additions to pub menus.

dairy ice creams and sorbets. They uses three programmes for different results. Gelato applies more cold to increase the consistency of ice cream; gelato fruit applies less cold for fruit ice creams and sorbets with a more intense flavour; and slush fruit crystallises fresh fruit cremoladas to create a smooth, even product. The secret to making the most from ice-cream sales is to develop an ice-cream menu that presents customers with an indulgent selection of flavours, and a quality accompaniment to popular desserts such as pies and crumbles, says Carpigiani sales director Gary Ingram.

Know the customer

Mark Sullivan, of Hall & Woodhouse pub the Bat & Ball in Wisborough Green, West Sussex, found sales rocketed after adding eight New Forest Ice Cream flavours to the menu and offering sundaes. They all sell
IMAGE: THINKSTOCK

incredibly well so much so that we are constantly being asked by our customers where we get our ice cream from, he says. The ice creams are served in sundaes, as accompaniments to other desserts and in cones, predominantly for children. When it comes to choosing what products to stock, it is important to consider the season, the customer base and occasion, and strike a balance to suit all. Decadent flavours such as Carte DOrs Cherry Blossom vanilla and cherry ice cream, cherry sauce and white chocolate flowers will suit the bigspending diner, but there must be more traditional, simple flavours on offer. Foodservice supplier Delice de France has introduced ice creams to its range for the first time and now offers strawberry, choc-

200
the weekend hire charge for an ice-cream bike at the Charles Lamb pub in Islington, London

olate and vanilla flavours. For the health conscious, offer a frozen yogurt such as Carte DOr Strawberry Yogurt Delice, which includes yoghurt ice cream and seasonal summer fruit topped with a summer fruit coulis, or Vanilla Light with 50% less fat and 30% fewer calories. Another option to explore is goats milk ice cream, which contains much less lactose sugar than typical dairy products, making it a viable choice for those with lactose intolerance. Bally Bleat, by Northern Ireland ice-cream specialist Mullins, is available in vanilla and blueberry swirl flavours through Belfield.

Up the appeal
Many pubs make the mistake of failing to sell their offer. Instead of merely referring to ice cream in one line at the bottom of the dessert menu, caterers should draw the customer in with descriptions of flavours and presentation. Identifying the high quality of the ice cream being sold not only encourages purchase but also helps to position your outlet as a user of finest quality ingredients across the board, says Christina Veal, director at New Forest Ice Cream. She also encourages licensees to make ice cream available to take away particularly in hot tourist spots as it makes the perfect impulse buy. Freehold the Bull & Last in Highgate, London, offers takeaway tubs
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Do yourself a flavour: an attractive display will tempt customers

2 June 2011

34 Food: ice cream

of ice cream in two sizes throughout the warmer months. All the ice cream is home-made and flavours include mint chocolate chip, millionaire shortbread, Ferrero Rocher, and vanilla. Sharing 500ml tubs are 6.95 and smaller 200ml tubs are 3.50. We started the takeaway ice cream mainly to cater for mums whose children wanted the ice cream, but didnt want to stay put, explains pub supervisor Sarah Birchall. Some people like to have their meal and then take away ice cream to explore the area. It is definitely worth doing. On a busy Sunday the pub will sell around 10 tubs, which increases in the height of summer.

Ice cream bike hire

Pub owner Camille HobbyLimon has taken the notion of takeaway ice cream a step further with her ice-cream bike, which is available for hire. The bike, at the Charles Lamb, Islington, London, is used at various events held at the pub as well as being rented out for private and corporate events. The bike cost 1,500 and can be hired out with or without ice cream, manned or unmanned. Advertising was achieved by word of mouth. The bike is a real point of difference, says Hobby-Limon. During the summer its rented out between six to eight times with charges around 200 for a weekend. Its popular at weddings, ftes, fairs and parties and also gets used by other businesses. The pub sources premium products from Alba Gold Ice Cream based in Acton and Marine Ices in Camden. 120-strong managed estate. The range of flavours has been exclusively developed for the Brains estate, which means customers have no choice but to return to get their ice-cream fix. More unusual flavours include chocolate & Grand Marnier, tutti frutti, jelly baby, and rhubarb & custard. As a Welsh company its important for us to use Welsh ingredients, explains head of catering Jill Matthews. Marios sources the milk and cream from within a 15-mile radius of the dairy and relies on traditional manufacturing techniques. The result is a fantastic product. Punch Taverns brand Fayre & Square offers a number of ice creambased creations including the Tuck Shop Ice Cream Cake a chocolate brownie base with chocolate mousse and clotted cream-flavoured ice cream, topped with mini chocolate and orange sponge cakes, mini chocolate rolls and mini chocolate fingers.

Ice-cream parlour
Moleface Pub Company turned a disused outbuilding at Enterprise lease the Lord Nelson in Burton Joyce, Nottingham, into an ice-cream parlour last summer to capitalise on good weather and use its large garden. The ice cream and cones are homemade and on offer through the hotter months for 1 a scoop. Vanilla is the most popular, but unusual flavours, such as jam roly poly, apple crumble & custard, and bread & butter pudding are also on offer. General manager Dean Thacker says around 60 are sold on a really hot day. The Farmers Arms in Darcy Lever, Greater Manchester, has reopened with an ice-cream parlour. Pub novices Freda and John Holland bought the freehold after the pub had been closed for a while and have so far spent 100,000 refurbishing it. The Hollands have given out 400 vouchers to local schools to encourage pupils to come and try the ice cream.

Some people like to have their meal and then take away ice cream to explore the area

Stand-out flavours
Welsh pub operator SA Brains uses only Marios ice cream across its

Cream of the crop

For high-end venues that do not wish to make their own, there is a great range of quality ice cream available to buy in, such as Judes, Purbeck and Mvenpick. Diners can be persuaded to order ice cream as a stand-alone dessert more easily when it is a recognised premium brand. Movenpicks head of customer marketing Julia Jones suggests serving a trio of complementary flavours, such as blackcurrant and cream, raspberry sorbet, and strawberry ice cream. The company offers a wide range of flavours including new additions amaretto & almond and chocolate & coconut. However, Jones points out that stock is limited by freezer space and publicans must tailor their ice-cream offer to their customer base with a couple of innovative options. Less than 40% of customers order a dessert, representing a lost opportunity. Licensees must train staff to upsell and make recommendations and, most simply, take the dessert menu over to tables. Mvenpick also recommends adding ice cream to drink and cocktail menus. Coke floats are easy to make and kids love them just add a scoop of ice cream to a glass of Coke. American 50s venue Woodys Diner in Hove, East Sussex, serves Pepsi and lemonade floats for 2.95, as well as milk shakes and sundaes. TGI Fridays offers frozen cocktails Barnamint Baileys (Oreo cookies, Baileys, mint liqueur, vanilla ice cream), and Strawberry Shortcake (strawberries, amaretto, vanilla ice cream).

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IMAGE: MOVENPICK

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