Pop-up grocery: how pubs and cafés are transforming into convenience stores

I do accept that what we’re doing is extraordinary: we’re taking away the ancient, inalienable right of free-born people of the United Kingdom to go to the pub,” Boris Johnson said on that fateful Friday evening, as he ordered pubs, bars, restaurants and cafés across the UK to close their doors until further notice. “It’s a huge wrench.”

For the hospitality industry, the decision was particularly wrenching. As trade association UKHospitality summarised: “For the vast majority of hospitality businesses this means closure.”

For those that haven’t closed, it’s required a rethink. While some restaurants and pubs are operating a pureplay takeaway business, others are reinventing themselves as something else entirely: a grocery store.

Chefs have turned shopkeepers in a matter of days, while local boozers have bounced back as convenience retailers. Their aim is simple: to provide an alternative to the supermarket shop during the pandemic. Because grocery shopping remains full of challenges. The mults may have largely recovered from the stockpiling that left shelves bare, but online delivery slots remain hard to come by and many people are cautious about visiting busy stores with long queues.

A smaller, less crowded store has an obvious appeal. So just how are businesses managing to pivot in such a short space of time? What are the challenges involved? And how much support are they getting from their local communities?

Making the switch certainly requires a flexible mindset. “I’m a shopkeeper now,” says Brodie Meah, co-founder of bistro Top Cuvée. The radical change in direction comes just a year after the premises opened in Highbury, but Meah “loves it”.

The team held a crisis meeting ahead of the shutdown - when avoiding restaurants was merely recommended - during which they decided to shut up shop. “We had a meeting at the pub - the last time I was at a pub - and thought about what we could do,” says Meah, who was part of the launch team of Dinner by Heston in Melbourne.

They quickly worked up a delivery menu, which proved hugely popular. And that wasn’t all. Following Johnson’s address, the restaurant cleared its seating and installed shelves to reinvent itself as a grocery store, which works alongside an online shop with a “curated-by-us offering”.

Many items come from Top Cuvée’s usual suppliers. Some, like flour, are repackaged into smaller sizes for customers. That has been, Meah admits, “a bloody nightmare” - but the purchase of a vacuum packing machine has sped up the process.

At the same time, the newly rebranded Shop Cuvée has had to go beyond its regular contacts to source more everyday products like bourbon biscuits and cereal. . “Learning about the margins on retail has been a real eye-opener,” Meah says. “We’re selling high-value stuff like wine. But if we were just a shop it would be really tough. It’s mental.”

Still, the pivot has not been as altogether stressful as expected, Meah adds. “I’m a restaurateur - I’ve been working in them my whole life. It’s fun but high pressure. You’ve got to deliver, you’re on stage. In the shop, it’s a more utilitarian exchange. Customers come in, have a chat, it’s chill,” he says.

This model has been replicated across all walks of the hospitality industry. The British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) doesn’t have statistics on the number of pubs to have adapted their service, but there is “plenty of anecdotal evidence” of them doing so, says CEO Emma McClarkin.

“Publicans are aware they are often a lifeline for local communities. They know converting to a grocery store could be vital”

“Publicans are aware they are often a lifeline for local communities and understand that something as simple as converting into a grocery store could be vital. So they are making that call for themselves, their businesses and their communities.”

As McClarkin suggests, there is a strong element of customer demand here. Take The Garibaldi pub in Redhill. Initially, it tried to cleanse stock through its off-licence side-business. Customers soon started requesting groceries.

“But our supply chain was completely down. We tried to register with new suppliers and cash & carries but they wouldn’t take any new business. I thought the idea was dead in the water,” says Shiv Lewis, general manager of The Garibaldi.

Luckily, pub shop e-commerce platform mypubshop.com put The Garibaldi in touch with Brakes, through which a broader range was secured. The pub store opened last week and is replenished by the wholesaler regularly. The store stocks bread, milk, eggs, butter, flour, pasta “and garibaldi biscuits, of course”. Orders can be made online, over the phone or in person, with card payments taken through the window and orders given via a side door.

“We’re like goldfish in a bowl taking your orders,” Lewis says.”If you told me this time last year I’d be selling dog biscuits and eggs I’d have thought you were mad. But it’s working.”

Indeed, the move has meant staff can stay in work and it saves on future maintenance costs by “keeping the old girl ticking over”.

Customer demand is influencing larger businesses, too. Following the lockdown, customers of chain bakery Paul started contacting the company to buy bread. So it pivoted to offer regulars “a range of groceries to cover their immediate food needs” alongside bakery items.

The chain started off by establishing a small bread and grocery market at its central bakery in Acton, West London, which offers both click & collect and home deliveries. It went on to reopen four outlets for takeaways, a number that rose to seven this week.

As well as baked goods, they’ll provide Paul flour and live yeast, “which we hope will help with the national flour shortage”, explains Paul UK CEO Mark Hilton. Social distancing is taken seriously and staff have mouth masks, face masks, aprons and gloves, which “creates as safe a trading environment as we can”.

Supplies continue to come through Paul’s long-term network of partners. “All businesses navigating their way through this pandemic are concerned with cashflow, so working with partners to ensure we are able to contribute where possible is clearly mutually beneficial,” Hilton says.

From pub to grub

More than 400 pubs have signed up to mypubshop.com, a platform that enables businesses to list and sell groceries and prepared meals.

The not-for-profit initiative was developed by wholesaler ordering platform StarStock.

“Very quickly we came to the conclusion that by repurposing our industry-recognised technology from B2B to a B2C format, we could actually help pubs serve their local communities,” says StarStock CEO and founder Sam Ulph.

Launched in partnership with Brakes (which is offering participating venues a food shop starter kit and regular deliveries), Budweiser Brewing Group and Coca-Cola European Partners, it’s won the support of pub groups Admiral Taverns, Greene King and St Austell.

Flour, eggs, yeast and butter are among its bestsellers. “It seems the great British public won’t let anything get in the way of their cake making,” Ulph says.

Transactions accrue a 2% fee to cover operational costs, with any surplus revenue donated to the NHS. Its success demonstrates “the willingness of customers to continue to engage with their local pubs and shops”, Ulph adds.

Government support

Arguably, this kind of innovative thinking is needed in hospitality. For the industry has warned government support isn’t enough to keep businesses going. Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove this week hinted pubs and bars could be “among the last to exit the lockdown” and possibly not before Christmas.

Against that backdrop, high street restaurant bosses - including Burger King, Nando’s and Wahaca - have asked the Chancellor for a nine-month rent holiday to help them survive the coronavirus crisis. Without it, they claim around two million hospitality jobs would be at risk.

The BBPA agrees more help is needed, or pubs may be “lost for good”. Because it is currently tricky to get extra cash in the short term. Aside from the small grants available via local authorities, the main source of financial aid is the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, which comes with controversy of its own. Although it protects the lender, it’s been argued restaurants and pubs won’t see any support unless they are considered viable, or will be tempted to saddle themselves with more debts they can’t pay. Some owners have called it “a trap” that will “destroy the industry” or at best “postpone the problem”.

So any way of keeping business going is attractive. But for those that have made the switch to stores, making a profit is far from front of mind.

“The initiative is helping with cashflow, but clearly the costs of operating overall outweigh the returns generated from the initiative. In simple terms, variable costs are covered, but fixed costs are not,” explains Hilton, who has furloughed several staff. “But it’s beneficial for us to do this. As the lockdown continues, it’s important for brands to be out there, operating.”

Plus, there is long-term potential. Because not everyone will abandon their new-found sidelines once lockdown is over. Top Cuvée, for one, is keen to keep going its high-quality, curated grocery selection alongside its restaurant business.

“When it comes to the selection of wines, beers and ingredients, I don’t think the supermarkets can match that level of hands-on expertise,” says Meah. “We’ve now set our sights on being an online supermarket. Long-term we’re trying to create a business that sells speciality, restaurant-quality ingredients.”

Paul has similarly learned from its lockdown experience. It wants to offer a better online service using the likes of Uber and Deliveroo, which will “become increasingly important once this pandemic is over”.

“We have a raft of initiatives we’re looking at in the way we work, that we think can enhance our operation and ensure we emerge from this hugely challenging time in a way that gives us the opportunity to continue to grow and thrive, as things return to a level of normality,” says Hilton.

And for The Garibaldi, its efforts during the crisis are sealing its place in the heart of the community.

“We’ve got a lot of lone rangers in the pub, they don’t do social media so it’s great being a point of contact for them, someone to say hello to and chat with,” says Lewis. “People are happy to support us. It makes them and us part of something. I’ve got the luxury of asking how people are - you don’t get that at Sainsbury’s.”From pub to grub

More than 400 pubs have signed up to mypubshop.com, a platform that enables businesses to list and sell groceries and prepared meals.

The not-for-profit initiative was developed by wholesaler ordering platform StarStock.

“Very quickly we came to the conclusion that by repurposing our industry-recognised technology from B2B to a B2C format, we could actually help pubs serve their local communities,” says StarStock CEO and founder Sam Ulph.

Launched in partnership with Brakes (which is offering participating venues a food shop starter kit and regular deliveries), Budweiser Brewing Group and Coca-Cola European Partners, it’s won the support of pub groups Admiral Taverns, Greene King and St Austell.

Flour, eggs, yeast and butter are among its bestsellers. “It seems the great British public won’t let anything get in the way of their cake making,” Ulph says.

Transactions accrue a 2% fee to cover operational costs, with any surplus revenue donated to the NHS. Its success demonstrates “the willingness of customers to continue to engage with their local pubs and shops”, Ulph adds.

Making the switch: five hospitality businesses pivoting to grocery

Lord Nelson

This local in the Nottinghamshire village of Winthorpe has started selling items such as bread, milk, potatoes and snacks, which nearby residents can collect or have delivered.

“I was concerned about my local community being able to access essential items,” says publican Emilie Clarke. “We have many elderly and vulnerable people in the area, so this was the least I could do in their time of need. The uptake has been phenomenal. It just goes to show how much it’s needed.”

 

Bistro Union

Clapham’s Bistro Union made the switch last month. Union Stores, as it is now known, offers dried goods, dairy, fruit & veg and fresh pasta.

“At first I wanted to maintain a revenue stream. But it dawned on me it wasn’t enough of a stream to make a difference,” Michelin-starred chef owner Adam Byatt told Big Hospitality. “Which changed the principle, to making it more about having a place for the team to go to, to be involved in something and give back to the community.”

 

Rose & Crown

The Orpington pub this week started selling three types of food boxes, sourced from its usual suppliers. The boxes will soon be available at all Whiting & Hammond group pubs.

“Most people still want to avoid crowds, so this is a great option to get fresh produce without the hassle, and for local people to support their local businesses rather than give their money to a big PLC,” says group owner Brian Whiting.

The biggest hurdle is “getting people to think differently”, he adds.

 

Leon

The chain is converting its 65 UK outlets into shops, to sell meals and produce from its own sources and other suppliers.

CEO John Vincent believes the new marketplace will secure a customer base that lasts beyond the crisis.

“For a while I have been wanting to get restaurant-quality ingredients into people’s homes,” says Vincent. “This situation has accelerated something we have always wanted to do. I think there will be a niche that will sustain.”

 

Ombra

The Italian restaurant in Hackney was quick to convert to its crisis format.

“We’re offering delivery and collection of a range of fresh pasta, sauces, wines, general provisions and of course, tiramisu. In addition we have grocery essentials such as eggs, tinned tomatoes and Italian ground coffee,” Ombra says.

Orders are made by sending a WhatsApp message to Ombra. A spread of pick-up slots is used help avoid overcrowding.