What's your favourite sandwich filling? Opening a shop soon
Discussion
There's a delicatessens in my area (S Oxfordshire/NE Wilts) by the name of Bloomfields. It has three branches in local villages, and does an absolutely roaring trade at lunchtime. They stock all sorts of very posh stuff, jams, chutneys, groceries etc, and do some wonderful home baked cakes, sausage rolls, scotch eggs. Wonderful stuff.
They also run a thriving sandwich/lunch service. And in accordance with some of the observations made above, despite the fact that they stock all sorts of artisanal/local cheeses and meats, their sandwiches are straight down the line baguette/bap with a large choice of fillings but centred mainly on the favourites - egg mayo, egg salad, sausage and egg, tuna mayo, chicken salad, ham salad etc etc. All people want for lunch is something hand made and filling, and good value. Ignore the fancy suggestions, serve the basics, serve them well, hand made, with good quality bread and decent sized portions and they shall come.
Good luck
They also run a thriving sandwich/lunch service. And in accordance with some of the observations made above, despite the fact that they stock all sorts of artisanal/local cheeses and meats, their sandwiches are straight down the line baguette/bap with a large choice of fillings but centred mainly on the favourites - egg mayo, egg salad, sausage and egg, tuna mayo, chicken salad, ham salad etc etc. All people want for lunch is something hand made and filling, and good value. Ignore the fancy suggestions, serve the basics, serve them well, hand made, with good quality bread and decent sized portions and they shall come.
Good luck
Type R Tom said:
Slightly OT but are use by dates sacrosanct in the food industry on brought in stuff? Just at home half my fridge is out of date and I just use my senses to see if something is edible or not.
'use by ' dates are , don;t forget you have to cater for the lowest common denominator of digestive systems - and that may mean children being weaned and people with poor immune systems due to age or infirmity ... Bacon and mushroom in soft white bread cake for breakfast.
Ploughman on granny stick, strong cheddar with proper salad, not just limp bit of lettuce.
Tuna mayo with something crunchy like celery.
Exotic, brie, grape and walnut.
Have a decent brown or wholemeal choice. To many sandwich place skimp on that option.
Ploughman on granny stick, strong cheddar with proper salad, not just limp bit of lettuce.
Tuna mayo with something crunchy like celery.
Exotic, brie, grape and walnut.
Have a decent brown or wholemeal choice. To many sandwich place skimp on that option.
Type R Tom said:
There is one in Canterbury doing exactly that and a roaring trade. http://www.porkandco.co.uk/
And that's precisely the sort of place I'd avoid like the plague. I might come out with a beard.technodup said:
Type R Tom said:
There is one in Canterbury doing exactly that and a roaring trade. http://www.porkandco.co.uk/
And that's precisely the sort of place I'd avoid like the plague. I might come out with a beard.Turquoise said:
Make sure you have a really decent homemade coleslaw, not some bought in s
te in a 3 litre container.
There's a reason almost every sandwich shop uses 'bought in ste in a 3 litre container.te in a 3 litre container'.There are many, many suggestions here that just won't work. You may have romantic ideas about a sandwich shop that sells artisan sandwiches with the finest, local, organic ingredients, all assembled on the breasts of virgins - but the cash return on this will be low - you'll get loads of waste, poor portion control (ultimately causing shrinkage) and a cash margin lower than filling plain white or wholemeal with bulk bought ingredients.
Turquoise said:
If all that was directed at me, making nice coleslaw isn't expensive. I do it myself. Cheap coleslaw is slimy and horrible.
When running a business, you have to separate what you like from what is profitable. It may not seem expensive, but I can almost guarantee it'll be more expensive than bulk bought from the cash and carry - especially once you factor in the preparation time.Food service is all about chasing down every cost you can - if you can save 0.5p per scoop of coleslaw, then do it.
I advise on businesses where a 2% miss on gross margin tips a business from substantial profit into losses.
Type R Tom said:
I've worked in the East end and normally avoid trendy/hipster places too but this place isn't too bad. £5 for a roll with 2 toppings and crackling.
£5 for a poxy roll? A doubler here with sausage and scone on a proper crispy roll and can of Coke is £2.40ish. I'm tight as f
k, I'd hate living down south.
Cheers for the replies guys. Absolutely made up with the response on here
My wife works in a nice pub a couple days a week, so her service and coffee skills are up there with the best of em. Tea and coffee must be your biggest profit margin, so as long as we nail that, then we're on a roll!
Our place won't attract the hipster, cool cat types like The Broadway does in leigh on sea, so there will only be limited bread, and no "sun blushed tomatoes" and the like. Just a good, honest sandwich based on the core fillings as advised on here.
And cheers for the well wishers. Looking forward to getting in there and making a bit of progress on the shop. Should be getting the keys next week!
Excited, but stting bricks if I'm honest!
My wife works in a nice pub a couple days a week, so her service and coffee skills are up there with the best of em. Tea and coffee must be your biggest profit margin, so as long as we nail that, then we're on a roll!
Our place won't attract the hipster, cool cat types like The Broadway does in leigh on sea, so there will only be limited bread, and no "sun blushed tomatoes" and the like. Just a good, honest sandwich based on the core fillings as advised on here.
And cheers for the well wishers. Looking forward to getting in there and making a bit of progress on the shop. Should be getting the keys next week!
Excited, but s
tting bricks if I'm honest!Comment aimed at the miserable moaners rather than Dean 
As I said earlier in the thread if you just buy all the cheap overly processed ste from the local bookers, what's going to differentiate you from the greasy spoon around the corner?
It's definitely manageable to make a profit preparing decent food and we've all seen businesses fail because they've shown no imagination.
I've just moved from working in a city centre to an out of town industrial site and I'd kill for somewhere to get a decent cup of coffee and some lunch that consists of more than fat and salt.
As I said earlier in the thread if you just buy all the cheap overly processed s
te from the local bookers, what's going to differentiate you from the greasy spoon around the corner?It's definitely manageable to make a profit preparing decent food and we've all seen businesses fail because they've shown no imagination.
I've just moved from working in a city centre to an out of town industrial site and I'd kill for somewhere to get a decent cup of coffee and some lunch that consists of more than fat and salt.
DeanR32 said:
Cheers for the replies guys. Absolutely made up with the response on here
My wife works in a nice pub a couple days a week, so her service and coffee skills are up there with the best of em. Tea and coffee must be your biggest profit margin, so as long as we nail that, then we're on a roll!
Our place won't attract the hipster, cool cat types like The Broadway does in leigh on sea, so there will only be limited bread, and no "sun blushed tomatoes" and the like. Just a good, honest sandwich based on the core fillings as advised on here.
And cheers for the well wishers. Looking forward to getting in there and making a bit of progress on the shop. Should be getting the keys next week!
Excited, but stting bricks if I'm honest!
Excellent.
Have you written your business plan yet.
You need to know your numbers like the back of your hand.
How much do you need to take to cover your costs on a daily basis?
My wife works in a nice pub a couple days a week, so her service and coffee skills are up there with the best of em. Tea and coffee must be your biggest profit margin, so as long as we nail that, then we're on a roll!
Our place won't attract the hipster, cool cat types like The Broadway does in leigh on sea, so there will only be limited bread, and no "sun blushed tomatoes" and the like. Just a good, honest sandwich based on the core fillings as advised on here.
And cheers for the well wishers. Looking forward to getting in there and making a bit of progress on the shop. Should be getting the keys next week!
Excited, but s
tting bricks if I'm honest!Excellent.
Have you written your business plan yet.
You need to know your numbers like the back of your hand.
How much do you need to take to cover your costs on a daily basis?
Chicken tikka and coleslaw on granary doorstep please guvna!
Edit: Just read the entire thread, Ginos in Southend is what I think a good sandwich shop is. We get it delivered to work every now and then, might be worth floating that idea around some local companies
Edit: Just read the entire thread, Ginos in Southend is what I think a good sandwich shop is. We get it delivered to work every now and then, might be worth floating that idea around some local companies
Edited by Aphex on Wednesday 17th August 11:02
The best sandwich? I've got a winner but probably not for your shop.
It's called the Pringa and you get them in Seville in Spain. I had them the once and have been mildly obsessed with them ever since. The recipe is as follow:
It's called the Pringa and you get them in Seville in Spain. I had them the once and have been mildly obsessed with them ever since. The recipe is as follow:
- Stew pork belly, whole chorizo and morcilla (Spanish black pudding) in a slow cooker with tomatoes, wine, garlic, herbs etc. until the pork is done.
- Form the pork belly meat into patties and lightly fry them in iberico pork fat until they go a little cripsy and browned.
- Spread one half of a fresh bread roll with the inside of the chorizo and morcilla. Put the fried patty of pork on the other half.
- Eat.
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