Budgens - Berrymoor
13 December 2023
A Trusted Reputation
“Up until 2020 I only had a very small bakery area that primarily sold ambient pastries and sausage rolls provided by a local supplier. I had always wanted to introduce hot food to go, along with freshly prepared sandwiches and baguettes, so I was already looking into that when I chose to remodel the store.
As part of the remodelling of the store my Booker RDM introduced me to Country Choice’s full offering. I was already aware of them, and their reputation, so I knew that whatever products and solutions they suggested would be really good. And so it proved with their Bake&Bite brand which we subsequently introduced as part of the remodelling.
Market Leading Support
Like many retailers taking their first steps into food to go we started with a few core items - bacon and sausage baps, sausage rolls, handheld bakes – and we have grown the offer from there very successfully with the support of Country Choice. And that support is really important to us because it includes things such as advice on what to stock and when to change up our offer in order to maintain consumer interest, help with merchandising, ticketing, and pricing, as well as other key aspects of running a food to go operation such as staff training. All of this means that we have been able to progress from the hot food to go into operating our own sandwich and filled baguette programme using bread that we bake in store and fillings supplied by Country Choice.
Impressive Margins
The current retail value of sales from hot food and in-store bakery is around £1800-£1900 per week, split roughly 60/40 respectively, with average margins of around 40%. Our bestselling products are sausage rolls and Parisienne loaves. Being situated in the middle of a housing estate we don’t have much in the way of passing trade, so we rely on repeat business from local residents, however we are fortunate to have a large car park which is very convenient for them.
Eye Catching Branding
As I have said previously it’s really important to maintain consumer interest and with this in mind I was delighted when Country Choice offered me the latest version of the Bake&Bite branding. It’s really eye catching and, along with exterior signage, new point of sale, flyers, and ticketing it looks really fantastic. You can tell that customers are noticing it just by watching them as they walk through the door and this awareness has definitely helped to increase sales. I think they are really impressed with what we have done.
Excellent Solutions
But it’s not all about the products and the solutions. One of the best things about my relationship with Country Choice is the support that I get from my rep, Gemma, she is absolutely terrific and makes me feel as though we have been trading with them for years, even though it’s not been that long. At the end of the day what makes the Country Choice offer so good is the combination of excellent products, excellent solutions, great support and knowledgeable, helpful people”
Biren Manharbhai Patel
Manager at Budgens Berrymoor