PILOT TAKE-OFF Tell us about the Wild Bean Café food to go pilots. Wild Bean Café, bp’s food & drink brand, has provided quality refreshments to consumers on the move for over 20 years. But as mobility is changing with the transition to electric vehicles, so is our food. We are piloting a new and improved fresh food offer at 10 of our Wild Bean Cafés in the UK. As of 15 April 2024, six are up and running, with four more opening in the coming weeks. This supports bp’s drive for convenience growth, with tasty, madeto-order hot food options and quality coffee, joining classic Wild Bean Café menu items like the sausage roll and cheese and bacon turnover. The pilot is the result of in-depth research into consumer behaviour in 2021/22. It builds on the success of two proof-of-concept cafés at our Holborough and Byron stores, where the menu was trialled in 2023, seeing double digit increases in total Wild Bean Café food sales.
Jo Hayward, VP of convenience, Europe, bp, talks exclusively about the evolving relationship with Wild Bean Café.
Are you focused on key day parts? Our new food for now proposition includes a broader range, improved breakfast offers and expanded lunch.
"The hero range consists of popular items from the proof-of-concept cafés, including the fish finger sandwich." Although the new menu focuses on breakfast and lunch, all items are available through the day, so customers can choose our best-selling big breakfast bap or other favourites whenever convenient. The core hero range consists of the most popular items from the proof-of-
concept cafés, including the fish finger sandwich (available on white or rye bread), the avocado, halloumi and egg bap and crispy herby chicken burger. You won the En Route Retailer Award at our Sammies last year. How different is the FTG approach at BP Wild Bean Café from, say, high-street names like Greggs or Pret? Winning the En Route Retailer Award for four years in a row (2020-2023) has been a great honour. Since rolling out our food for now menu pilot, we are thrilled to have been shortlisted at this year’s Sammies in the ‘New Food to Go’ category for our big breakfast bap. We were also recognised at the 2024 Menu Innovation & Development Award (MIDAS), where we won in the ‘Leisure and Travel’ category. The main difference between our new Wild Bean Café offer and Pret and Greggs is that our menu is freshly made to a customer’s personal preference and prepared in store by our trained team members.
42 I www.sandwichandfoodtogonews.co.uk
S&FTG_211_May24_p38-53_FTG_G AB.indd 42
25/04/2024 17:13