Top 50 Indie Tankerford has introduced its own brand of bakery products under the Crust label as the firm continues to embrace operational independence.
The company was started by Subu Nanthakumar in 2002 with a single forecourt in East Ham, London, and now counts 11 trading sites in its portfolio, with six of these wearing the Refuel Market fascia, another in-house innovation.
Forecourt Trader recently caught up with Tankerford’s retail sales director, Jamie Wheeler, at East Ham, which underwent a comprehensive redevelopment this summer – of which more later.
“I can understand why people choose to go with one food supplier”, Wheeler tells us. “You can get all the equipment for free and have the support of the reps. But you’ve also got to follow their line, without question.”
The development of the Crust brand was spearheaded by Wheeler to give Tankerford independence from such commitments. While doing things in-house brings more work and capital outlay, it also allows free rein where product is concerned.
“It gives us flexibility. We can work with different distributers and hand pick the range. If a product doesn’t do well we can change or drop it, and it also allows us to follow the market and adapt. We want to be able to innovate, and also protect profits”, he says.
Such innovations are evident in the bakery products wearing Crust labels, with Biscoff-topped cinnamon rolls and doughnuts topped with Squashies sweets – both Tankerford inventions – sitting alongside more traditional pastries and buns on the bakery shelves that wear the Crust brand.
Wheeler is realistic that with Tankerford a relatively small player compared to some, customers won’t necessarily be looking out for Crust as they might do a Wild Bean Cafe or Greggs, but the idea is that “people will see it and know they can expect to see hot food and bakery products”.
The firm originally intended to produce all its Crust range in store, but while it still makes its own sausage and bacon baps in the kitchen at the back of the East Ham site, Tankerford switched to a white-label supplier for baguettes after a short period of making these itself.
“It’s a lot of work and a lot of time, especially the labelling for allergies, calories and ingredients” Wheeler says – another example of the agility that comes with doing things yourself.
East Ham revamp
The steady stream of customers that fill up their vehicles during our visit to the Texaco branded filling station in East Ham is an indicator that this is a thriving forecourt for fuel sales, but the shop was previously lacking, Wheeler explains.
“Being totally honest with you it wasn’t very inviting before”. Stark fluorescent lighting, old shelving units and ageing, open fridges that were prone to breakdowns were among the elements that needed upgrading, and another significant change concerned the fried chicken shop that used to operate from the shop.
“Between rising energy costs and the amount of staffing it needed, it didn’t really work for us”, he says, while adding that the smell of fried chicken might be pleasant if you’re hungry, but wouldn’t be to everyone’s taste when filling up with fuel or popping in for groceries.
So out went the chicken shop and in went Crust food, though, sensibly, much of the kitchen remains to allow for food prep and storage behind the scenes. Also in the kitchen is a tablet-based label printer that allows for accurate, legislation-compliant labels to be easily produced, together with equipment for Rollover hot food. “Rollover is an established brand, it sells well and people like it, so we’re happy to give over space in the hot food cabinet for it”, Wheeler explains.
The revamp of the shop also saw its roof replaced, while new flooring, shelves, fridges and electronic shelf labels went in, plus a new EPOS system from CBE, and a snazzy colour-changing LED lighting system bordering the top of the shop’s internal walls.
All told the refurbishment came in at around a quarter of a million pounds, but having only been completed this summer sales are already up by 25%, and Wheeler expects them to eventually double compared to pre-refurb once customers learn how much is now on offer.
Ultimately, Tankerford’s aim is to build up solid, loyal customer bases at all its sites as people come to associate them with higher-end products, plus varied food-to-go and retail offerings. “Our aim is to be more than a forecourt”, Wheeler explains, before we both realise he might just have hit upon a rather neat slogan for the firm. That’s innovation for you.
