FAMILY FORTUNES
Beer garden and play area at Toormina Hotel
FAMILIES FLOCKING TO FAVOURED PUBS
FAMILIES HAVE NEVER BEEN BETTER CATERED FOR. SMART OPERATORS REVEAL TO CRAIG HAWTIN-BUTCHER HOW THEY’RE REVOLUTIONISING MENUS AND SPACES TO MAKE THE MOST OF THE OPPORTUNITY.
“O
f course, hospitality is all about being hospitable,” says Regan Porteous, Parlour Group’s Executive Chef, when Australian Hotelier asks him how the group is catering for the increased demand from families. “We encourage families and have menus available for all ages,” he says. The Parlour Group aren’t alone in catering for this key customer segment. With competition for customers as intense as it’s ever been, and profit margins being squeezed, venues are increasingly keen to attract any and all demographics, and families are a key one. “We’re definitely focused on families, 100%,” says Deniz Coskun, Executive Chef for the Queensland-based Mantle Group Hospitality. “A lot of our venues are in the CBD, though a few are outside. You do find those [outside the CBD] are more family friendly. “At the end of the day, families want to go out for dinner or lunch. They want to have fun,
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catch up with other families. I’m a dad myself – I want to catch up with my friends. We tend to do lunches now instead of dinners. We still want to have good food, be able to be more relaxed and bring the kids, go to our local. For those suburban pubs, having that good quality food offer will attract that,” says Coskun. Pubs are responding precisely to the demand Coskun descibes. Venues know that kids don’t eat alone, so that loss-leading promotions including ‘kids eat free’ headline sales guarantee adults will likely order from the menu also. Family groups are also attractive to operators keen to attract daytime crowds and to develop return business from local regulars. Lincoln Baker, GM at The Australian Heritage Hotel in Sydney’s The Rocks precinct recognises the value of family groups, saying: “Service during the day is important. During the week it’s mostly travelling families and on Sundays we attract young families out for a meal and a drink.”
ATTRACTIVE PRICING Baker looks to attract families with a daily $10 children’s menu, along with children’s crayons and sketch books to keep them occupied. More prosaically, The Australian Heritage Hotel caters for the practical requirements of young families, offering separate baby-changing facilities and high-chairs. Many venues now offer similar facilities, which are increasingly the norm rather than the exception. Baker also has one eye on the long-term future for the venue, saying “That Aussie pub experience has now become a part of our culture and being a family friendly venue will ensure that culture continues onto the next generation.” Mantle’s Coskun says, “Our approach [to families] is pretty similar, it’s still quality food, but having the dining rooms flexible to have children there, having separate dining areas and kids menus. Our approach has always been good quality, reasonably priced. For kids [pricing is] by age – it could be $5-$10.”
