Sandwich round advise please

[Darren Leeds]

I was speaking to a friend of mine last night who is looking into setting up a sandwich round. He has managed to secure a deal with a production kitchen to use their facilities as they only use the kitchen from 5pm onwards so its free all day.

My friend has basically asked me if I would be interested in going into setting up the business with him which would be a great work add on for me.

My main question is this, because the business would be run from a production kitchen there is no shop front obviously so we would be relying 100% on outside orders and delivering the orders. Do you think it would be better to specialise with a niche line of sandwiches or would it be a better idea to focus on pricing and delivery times (ie cheaper than competitors and quicker)?

Also in regards to marketing I was thinking of going down the line of approaching offices and handing the receptionist menus and offering her free sandwiches if she gets a set amount of orders per day? Or maybe having a system of having say 10% off if you spend over £10 to try to make a few people in the office order together?

Any thoughts?

And by the way my friend is a qualified chef by trade but I have no experience of the food industry and I am well aware of how competitive the market is!

 

[sellickbhoy]

Hi Darren

good luck

1st thing I would do is establish what is already on offer in the area

Could be that there are lots of sandwich companies delivering to offices in the area - and even if there are, that doesn't mean there is no room for you.

you then need to find out what they are like - Cheap/expensive/tasty/simple, is there service fast/slow, are orders customer made, how easy is it to order? how reliable are they? (oh, and on fridays, you should offer multipacks of mini donuts, cakes, choclate crispies, cadburys heros and such like!!)

You also have to check how many big offices will let you in - some have their own catering facilities (so may be a closed shop to you) but others don't (think industrial estates/units) and they may be happy to distribute your menu/flyers etc and phone in orders to you.

Sounds like you are off to a good start by having a suitable large/equiped facility at a minimal cost - but, do you even need a production sized kitchen? why can't you do it from home? Would cost you a couple of fridges, storage containers etc and depending on how you source your ingredients inventory/storage amy be minimal (have you checked with the kitchen they are happy to store your ingredients overnight?)

Also, have a look at this company in my local area - www.hyndberry.com (or .co.uk)

on top of sandwiches you could do proper meals for people to eat at home - kinda like a quality take away. That might be an option for you to prepare full meals earlier in the day, package them up and deliver to peoples homes in the evening - though i think Hyndberry are overpriced for widespread take up

 

[Ashley_Price]

Do you think it would be better to specialise with a niche line of sandwiches or would it be a better idea to focus on pricing and delivery times (ie cheaper than competitors and quicker)?

In answer to this... neither is better. What's the point of having a niche line of sandwiches if they won't sell. Get the usual ones, plus some different ones, but don't have very unusual fillings except as a "tester" (so only make a few and see how popular they are).

Don't try and undercut your competitors. Like any business, if you are too cheap people are going to wonder why? In your case, people will probably wonder if the bread is really fresh, if the fillings are up to standard, etc.

Why not pop to a few offices you know and do a little poll to see which are the most popular sandwiches? Go to a completely different town and ask in the sandwich shop which are the popular sellers (make sure you find a shop that you won't be in competition with).

Come to that, why not put a little poll up on UKBF to ask members what they're favourites are?

 

[Darren Leeds]

Thank you for both replies.

Both me and my friend have young children who are at home so the home option is not possible and I would rather work from a proper kitchen to be honest anyway.

In regards to research I have been around pretty much all the local sandwich shops to get menus and have made a database of prices to compare so I can price the products accordingly. I agree if you price something too cheaply people will automatically think its poor quality or service before even ordering but I think offering a discount or some form of loyalty scheme would work well.

In regards to the sandwiches im thinking along the lines of a standard core range and then some "different" sandwiches like salt beef or maybe even peanut butter!!

 

[Snap Executive]

Hello Darren

At our office park (North Leeds) there is a sandwich seller from a local cafe and an Ainsleys van that comes along at lunchtime. Both do a very good trade, arrive with a fairly decent selection of sandwiches and savouries and let the hordes get stuck in.

I say you should scope out the office parks (look for the car parks that are full) and get stuck in. Good luck with the venture.

Cheers
James

 

[Darren Leeds]

Hi James,

Im also based North Leeds. So what would be a good enough incentive for yourself to use a different supplier????

 

[TRU-Davo]

Hi Darren,

As the others have quite rightfully indicated - check out your competition and market... Find your niche that is not only different, but that is in demand!

Darwins Deli (in London) have bicycle guys riding around delivering sandwiches to our doorstep...

http://www.darwinsdeli.co.uk/

Good luck!
David

 

[Darren Leeds]

Thats for the link and advise!

 

[LicensedToTrade]

Another twist that goes down well in my area is a van that comes around the various business parks called Oggy Oggy (A pasty chain) they sell a whole range of pasties (and a couple of sandwiches). In this case they have found a niche, but also a niche that sells! Another tip from this same company, fit an ice-cream van siren to your van. I often look out of the window at one oclock when I hear 'the sun has got his hat on' blaring across the business park and the crowds running to the van as though they hadn't been fed in weeks.

 

[plotter]

along time ago one used to come around where i was working, selling
cold ham and cheese toasties.(with worster (spelling) sauce) wow they were nice

 

[Darren Leeds]

I like the sound of crowds flocking!! Again the issue with that is that I wont be operating from a catering van and will only be delivering pre ordered items.

I like the toastie idea!

 

[MrsPWN]

Have a core range and 2 daily specials make it easy for people to order online and have a loyalty card system 10 sarnies, 11th free kind of thing. Most people would rather pay a bit more for quality, especially if they spend all morning looking forward to their lunch! Maybe a £5 deal, sarnie, drink and slice of cake?

One of the nicest sarnies I ever had was blue brie and cranberry, that one sandwich had me hooked to that particular deli for 3 years for my lunch, they always knew me and made an effort to chat. their system was online, I ordered my lunches for the week on a moinday, paid upfront by Paypal and they either delivered or I collected just to get out of the building. As long as you do it well this can be a great little business.

Don't forget salads, I was in a shop recently in Key West where one of the assistants was eating an amazing salad that had been delivered for her lunch, she told us where the cafe was and we ate our next 6 meals there!

Good luck

 

[Darren Leeds]

Thank you for the reply. I have been thinking about having an online ordering facility but do that many people like to book ahead?

 

[MrsPWN]

I did because I spent the 1st 30 mins on a monday thinking about food and made the start to the week a bit more bearable (sp)

ALso I knew no matter how busy I got in the day my lunch was sorted, imagine not getting the chance to order and starving to death!

It was awhile ago and they just sent out an orderform by email and I sent it back, now you could have it more like a shop, with lovely juicy photos that could be clicked on or something

Now I need to go make my lunch!

 

[Darren Leeds]

Sounds good to me!

 

[ne-it]

Hi Darren,

Does it have to be a sandwich business? The fact you have a kitchen available all day may mean you can do other things too? How about special event or corporate buffet meals?

Especially at this time of year and in the current economic climate! I'm sure most enterprises will not be pushing the boat out this year so the annual sit down meal may be out of the window, replaced with a glug in the pub, a sarny or two and the obligatory chicken drumstick?

You could still do your sandwich run but it may be worth considering alternatives to establish or add to your current options?

 

[Darren Leeds]

Good point, im always of the opinion that its good to have your fingers in a few pies so to speak and spread the risk. I was also thinking about making use of a pizza oven the kitchen has!

 

[nandos]

I've had this idea for years but never had time to implement.

Lunch time carvery wagon.....a couple of differect meats eg leg of lamb, beef, gammon. A few choses differenct breads to select ...a couple of sauces...and salad....you cannot go wrong....charge 3.50-4 pounds . Easy peezy. There's a few places in central london which have carvery shops and let me tell you there's always a queue outside - they charge 5-6 pounds.

What do people think of the idea?

 

[ne-it]

Good point, im always of the opinion that its good to have your fingers in a few pies so to speak and spread the risk. I was also thinking about making use of a pizza oven the kitchen has!

Wow dude you guys really are on a winner there BTW I'm a trained chef and knock out gourmet pizzas on a regular (no joke!)... Pizza delivered to the office for lunch and a whole heap of other stuff you could do... Ciabatta bread spread with passata and topped with mozzarella, or some ham... Dude you could make a small fortune! And don't forget who doesn't like cold pizza!

What else does the kitchen have?

 

[Darren Leeds]

Just conventional ovens and other standard equipment, the pizza oven did catch my eye though!

 

[Snap Executive]

The more the merrier here Darren (lots of businesses based at WIRA house).

I would suggest, though, that you arive with a tray of pre-made sandwiches (prob 10 or so assorted fillings) plus some drink cans, etc and try and grab the passing lunch trade (200+ bodies have lunch at circa 1pm every day.

Cheers
James

 

[Darren Leeds]

Good man, I owe you a free sarnie!