Gill Marsh Forecourts continues to develop its in-house food to go range with an evening takeaway delivery trial launching in the new year at its Ulceby Cross site.
The idea is that the Alford filling station, one of three run by the business in Lincolnshire, will make full use of its commercial kitchen installed on-site during a refit around a year ago.
The menu will cover pub grub meals such as smashed burgers, curries, and Greek gyros: rotisserie cooked pork or chicken, served in a pita bread, with tomatoes, onions, tzatziki dressing and French fries.
Managing director Tom Dant is recruiting a couple more staff to join the six already working on the Tom’s Kitchen brand, and he is leasing an electric Volkswagen ID Buzz van to make local deliveries.
“We chose an electric van because it does 300 miles on a single charge, maintenance is loads lower, and because it will be stopping and starting with lots of little trips which diesel vehicles don’t like,” says Dant.
The service will be promoted on the Snappy Shopper and Just Eat apps, but because the forecourt is so rural Dant’s team will make all of the deliveries.
The business has already been doing well with breakfast deliveries – which make up around 25% of the value of the store’s existing food to go deliveries, and 8-9% of the total food to go business for the site. “This shows us that there is potential to develop evening sales,” says Dant.
He has also recently started to offer heated Praveen Kumar Indian ready-meals to extend the store’s food to go offer into the evening.
The new takeaway delivery service is expected to run from 5pm to 10.30pm, boosting the kitchen’s weekly turnover which currently stands at £14,000 to £16,000, with existing staples including loaded fries and jacket potatoes.
