When we started our Balbirnie Takeaway 27.12.2020 we had absolutely no idea how it was going to go. Even within our brigade, there were those with misgivings before we started, with some saying 'That's not possible!'
But as we know:
Little did we know, but we were about to see the very rapid creation of Balbirnie Takeaway, quickly rolling with scope for the creation of a £1million future set of annual revenue streams.
So this is what we figured before we began. Create an ordering system which delivers unprecedented convenience, in that it combines an App order, with the huge relevance of a pre-set Collection time. Deliver a significantly better product than you'll find in a national Takeaway chain. And price it only marginally more than you'll find in a national Takeaway chain. These in any event, were our three start points.
Fife has many great chippies, and each of these is of course (and quite rightly so) protective of their batter recipes. This was our very first Takeaway photo.
It's a long story maybe for another day, but we successfully managed to totally nail the batter, to a standard equating to the best-of-the-best chippies in the land. Then we added 'the Balbirnie detail', complimentary pea puree, chippie curry sauce, served with sachets of salt and vinegar, and a wee wooden fork, a napkin, and a lemon-scented hand wipe. Yours, for a great value £7.95!
We nailed the App and tech order process, only thanks to tech crew working until 10pm on Boxing Day night! And thank you again Hungrrr!
Our App and tech architecture made provision for two Pre-Order Collections every 5 minutes.
Writing the next morning 1 hour 25 mins before opening time! ⬇️
We thought that by opening over New Year, we might have a few customers, but we were lost for words at what actually happened. Whilst also needing to unexpectedly miracle more supplies!
On 3rd January we were able to put up a Facebook post confirming in the first week, that we had served 1,000 customers. And in turn, that Facebook post then received 1,000 Likes!
That same day, and having learnt from the previous week, I arrived very early that morning, and introduced a totally new process for setting up the day's printed ticket orders, holding in batches of two hours at a time, and then transferring in timed slots over The Pass. Similarly, Head Chef Sharon Munro and our kitchen brigade introduced a totally new board system which future-forecasted quantities of outgoing orders. This meant that we were then able to produce all orders, by moving ahead of the timing curve, literally 30 seconds prior to pre-designated Collection time, and then hold the collection package under hot lights, until the customer car (mobile dining room!) arrived - usually bang on time as well, our front door crew checked the car registration plate correlated to our order, and there you go, Voila! In an instant, the provision became organised beyond belief, and effortless, as it should be if there's a really good plan!
Our kitchen service and front-of-house service on 3rd January 2021 goes down as one of our most memorable in history. Because all systems simply clicked together that day, as never before in the previous week. I went home that night absolutely buzzing!
So, then The Courier ran the story! Fife hotel boss left speechless ...
We gradually refined the offering and packaging. Speakers placed at the front doors, and we got into a Euro downtempo groove! We were absolutely amazed at how our local community had so easily grasped the App process, with many arriving during the day for pre-designated Collection times, on foot. So we lit the fire pits to give a wee focal point for the warming of hands, of course one social distanced group at a time.
Over the weeks to come, we then started introducing new offerings, and Posh Dogs arrived! These are custom-made for Balbirnie House, by our 3 decade and more local supplier J Henderson, 25% beef, 75% pork, cannae specify the secret seasoning mix, but it includes white pepper, nutmeg and mace. We specified at 7.5 inches, for serving in a 9 inch La Boulangerie brioche bun. A proper posh hot dog!
We considered 'the cutting edge of Posh Dog innovation and combinations' elsewhere, and then started putting together some great combinations.
Then a veggie combo of Beetroot Falafel dog, spiced red pepper hummus, harissa mayo, lettuce, red onion, red chilli and crispy shallots! Thanking former Balbirnie Bistro Chef, now owner of Glasgow's amazing Cafe Strange Brew Laurie Macmillan for suggesting this combination.
All things rolling, we then added Takeaway Cocktails, 4 pint draught beers, and Brewdog canned beers. Love a can, especially the grapefruit-infused Elvis Juice!
The cocktails have clever packaging, stauners, they stand up after being opened.
To our surprise, the Negroni never sold very well, so we dropped it from the team! Every morning now, we have a designated Cocktail manufacturing and packaging area which springs into life!
Next to add, were ice creams and sorbets in 2 litre tubs! Our in-house Caledonian Dairy has been making the finest such commercially-made products in Scotland for many years. We already supply across Scotland, distributed by Clarks Speciality Foods, so we thought it only logical to also enable these for Pre-Order Collection as well.
We've now gone live with our first ever Pre-Order, Collect and Cook at Home, in the form of our brand new Royale Super Tasty burger (and seasoned wedges) kits for two. Again, all instructions via App. These burgers offer a double Emmental hit, with white onion, bacon, and a secret recipe sauce which contains liquid smoke! Truly a delicious burger. I'd go as far as putting my personal tuppence on this, saying it's actually the tastiest burger I've ever had!
In February 2021 we ran an extreme value Itison voucher campaign, two main courses and two soft drinks for a tenner, Mondays to Fridays. We allocated 2,500 meals for two, these sold within 48 hours, so we added a further 250.
At this point we decided to allocate a further 100 meals for two donated to Glenrothes Foodbank, and by circumstances alone this was Scotland's very first such 'good cause system', combining hard copy voucher, redemption codes, and App collection. The Foodbank raffled all vouchers, raising £1,000 for new purchases.
Our customers were repeatedly telling us that the Itison deal was ridiculous value, so for March we repeated but moved it up £2 to £12 for two mains and two soft drinks, but cranked the choice to include Chicken Satay Skewers, Chilli con Carne, Royale Super Tasty, Beetroot Falafel Dog, and Fish'n'Chips. This offer has kept us very busy Mondays to Fridays. All of it, a rapid learning experience.
Well ... this is what happens! You see, the Takeaway originated for what we thought would be a few weeks at most, but we've set the systems and seen it establish, and we've also watched as ongoing customer reviews continue rolling in, very close indeed to 100% total delight! Customers certainly love the convenience of pre-arranged Collection times, it's a total contrast to being parked in a very slow takeaway queue of cars for a conventional national chain 'order at the speaker and then drivethrough', and it's an opposite of needing to find a parking space and then walk, wait and collect.
It's crossed our mind that we could perhaps offer local deliveries as well, that's a potential for the future. Stating the obvious, many customers are already simply arranging their collections by booking a local taxi driver.
On all combined basis, we have therefore decided to take one of our other four kitchens (currently multi-purpose), and convert it into a designated Takeaway kitchen. This is a significant investment in future capabilities.
We cannot even begin to find the words to thank our local community for supporting us so incredibly during all lockdowns, so this is Balbirnie giving something back, with a permanently established great value great produce Takeaway for Fife. And we will only keep getting better at what we are offering as well.
Here's the layout design:
This is a full-on installation, with seven A4 pages of equipment!
The investment is significant:
Today, I'd like to highlight two particular pieces of new kit.
Drum roll please ...
The brand new Balbirnie House Josper Grill. We first saw this at Hotelympia a few years ago, and it's a quite incredible piece of kit, a combined oven and grill which is fired with wood charcoal. Matching our brigade entrance doors and kitchen floors, ours is custom-designed with the door finished in Balbirnie blue.
If you cook a roast at home, your oven will be circa 200 degrees, the Josper is up at 350 degrees, meaning for example, that a butterflied chicken breast can be roasted in literally 3 minutes!
('The Mighty Josper' - Image via twitter, @HawksmoorLondon)
Moving ahead, our Josper is going to deliver absolutely unprecedented capabilities for Takeaways. The Royale Super Tasty certainly goes to a flame-grilled level of Tastiness, which is totally off the scale!Next, drum roll please ...
Our current Takeaway pizzas are 12 inch thin'n'crispy Sourdough.
The Turbochef is going to enable us to move pizza manufacturing however, into totally new territory, with ability to create brand new Balbirnie Deluxe pizzas, sized at up to 16 inches! Dominoes as one example, their large pizzas are 13.5 inches.
Our contemplation for Balbirnie Deluxe pizzas actually began in earnest in early summer 2020, with very detailed specific input from our former Operations Manager Scotland's former Young Hotelier of the Year, Erdal Ozer. This was us, sat for hours talking about the potential making of dough!
Erdal has amassed wonderful experience elsewhere, in terms of the art of creating dough for Deluxe pizzas. Because without shred of doubt, it is indeed an art, and certainly a source of great pride amongst Fife's many Turkish-inspired Takeaways. Our sincere thanks to the team at Istanbul Takeaway Leslie, for having me along one evening in summer 2020, to see exactly how their pizzas are created. It's an extremely precise process. Erdal will be personally briefly returning to Balbirnie House in late April, to help oversee our first outgoing Balbirnie Deluxe Pizzas.
With everything on the go, we've also decided to invest in our very own custom-designed packaging. All as environmentally-friendly as it can possibly be done.
When we start providing the backdrop once again for weddings, our main entrance and front steps will need to be kept clear for weddings and associated photography. So, our Takeaway Collection point will be shifting, to a new point and car turning circle at our North Courtyard, new signage is installing to show the way.
A massive thanks to our local Community for supporting the hotel over these recent months of Takeaway, and we very much look forward to being at your future service.
All best wishes,
Nicholas
MD Balbirnie House
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