With more local pubs than ever closing in the last 10 years and the ‘regular drinker’ trade dwindling , pubs have hit upon a new idea of how to boost profits and remain an essential part of the local community, by becoming child friendly venues.
Nowadays going out for a meal is a common part of family life and more than ever before it is expected that venues will cater to the needs of children with special children’s menus, activity packs, make your own pizza/dessert stations and some even providing a special children’s play area.
What is also more important than ever is the need for the children’s menus to be healthy and nutritionally balanced. Gone are the days of offering every option with chips, children and parents are far more discerning and now expect a few healthy choices on each menu with inventive uses of fruit and veg in the dishes (ie extra vegetables in pasta sauces or fruit skewers for dessert).
Many pubs are also using children’s offers on menus to entice in parents i.e. ‘kids eat free’ deals or fixed price meal deals under £5.00 making the cost of eating out with children easier on parents pockets. It looks like it’s working, as more pubs than ever are reporting an increase in profits mainly due to the uptake of child friendly menus.
