Most of the trends are driven by economic necessity

It’s interesting to reflect on the changes that have occurred in food offerings in pubs and hotels over the recent past. After forty-five years in this industry I have come to understand that most of the trends and changes we’ve seen are driven by economic necessity, rather than artistic expression.

Way back, as I was growing up, most pubs were relatively small and offered solid but uninspired basic fare in their public bars to meet the needs of the workmen who largely frequented them. It was also common for these pubs to provide slightly more upmarket food in their lounges, which catered, in a more genteel environment, for families, women and children. The predominant culinary influence was ‘Colonial English’, and menus were quite bland, being completely devoid of the pastas, risottos, stir-fries and other Mediterranean and Asian offerings we have become familiar with.

Mass migration from Europe changed all that, and what, to us, seemed exotic ingredients like eggplant, zucchini and capsicum started to appear, along with pizza, pasta, etc. The latter provided the opportunity for cheap bulk carbohydrates as an alternative to the traditional potato, and were quickly adopted by commercially savvy operators.

We then entered the era of the pub bistro with its fancy chalkboard menu and counter service, rather than table service. This concept offered what seemed to be a broad choice of menu items which pleased the public, but which were really different combinations of a fairly basic list of ingredients and components. The new style bistro proved to be very popular and pubs of the time found their trade increased considerably when they adopted this concept and the labour cost was lower than full table service. This concept had ‘legs’, so to speak.

The industry split into two different streams at around this time. The gaming hotels and clubs continued to develop the high volume bistro concept and often subsidised food from the profit from gaming. In fact, cheap food became one of the essential marketing tools of the gaming industry, to the point where it was not uncommon to see huge serves of ‘pub food’ sold at prices that were unlikely to cover costs. At the time, profitability from food was not an issue.

On the other side of the split the smaller, non-gaming venues were forced to refocus on their food offerings as mobile phones killed the public bar trade (they were previously labour exchanges for the building and construction industries), and the zealous enforcement of drink driving laws drew the focus away from alcohol and placed it back to food. Unable to compete with their subsidised gaming cousins, many of these smaller pubs settled on a more sophisticated offering that was more like restaurant food than pub food. Thus was born the ‘gastropub.’

At the same time, due to a shift in migration patterns from Europe to S. E. Asia, the oriental influence started to make its presence felt, and the more adventurous chefs started to put woks into their kitchens and we started to see stir-fries, noodle dishes, etc. They soon realised that they were on a winner with these types of dishes because they featured fairly small quantities of the prime protein ingredient and were quite profitable as a result.

We now reach the late 90s and the profitability from gaming is starting to decline, or more accurately, people and companies were paying stupid prices for gaming hotels and the requirement for higher levels of profitability to pay for the initial purchase within a reasonable time forced attention back to food.

The need to restore reasonable food margins led to the almost universal adoption of cheaper secondary cuts as primary ingredients and items like shanks, tripe, belly and cheek started to make a common appearance on menus. Ironically, the end result of the increasing demand for cheap ingredients has pushed the price of those ingredients up to the point where there is little advantage to using them any more. In the quest for cheaper ingredients, suppliers have also started to offer ‘mock’ ingredients like seafood extender, compound calamari, compound chicken schnitzels, etc.

Now, we’ve reached the point where main course prices are about as high as the public will pay and entrée and dessert prices have been increased to the point where there is a backlash starting to make itself felt in some sections of the industry. Most notably the more progressive operators in the restaurant sector have abandoned the old entrée, main, dessert menu structure in favour of what we call tasting plate menus, where smaller dishes are sold in a ‘Lego set’ approach which overcomes peoples’ resistance to what would otherwise be an obvious price increase. Progressive pubs will undoubtedly follow.

So, where is it all going? Well, either prices will have to increase across the board or portion sizes will have to decrease, or there will be no margins left in food. The culinary influences that will drive the industry will still remain a combination of European and Asian, with a steady increase in Middle Eastern and African influence as the eyes are picked out of more traditional cuisines. Fried and fatty food will decline in the menu mix and there will be a marked shift toward ‘clean’, lighter food driven by the younger generations who have been schooled towards healthier eating.

As the dining public become savvier and the baby boomers drop off their perch, the X and Y generations will drive the market. They will be looking for authenticity in the ethnic dishes, and they will want contemporary food with a little bit of ‘art’; and most importantly they want thoughtful children’s menus instead of the ubiquitous chicken nuggets and fish and chips. Why go to a bistro and put up with uninspired or poorly executed copies of ethnic dishes when you can get the real thing down the road with full table service, for two thirds the price?

Maybe it’s time to re-evaluate what you are doing? Your customers are being fed a steady diet of culinary expectation by Gordon, Jamie, Kylie, Curtis, Nigella and their television peers, and popular shows like Masterchef are having a profound influence on public expectation. Note how the Asian cheap ‘n’cheerfuls are generally packed, while the pub around the corner is an empty museum with ‘Parma & pot $9.50’ plastered across the front window.

Would you prefer to be the parents of modern Australian hotel cuisine, or the grandparents?

Tony Eldred, Eldred Hospitality

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