We have always aimed to provide the best product at the best prices, and to keep costs down so we can spend more on higher quality products we have chosen to use polystyrene products. These are cheaper than the alternatives but do the job just as well. We use trays rather than boxes as once wrapped in paper they allow the food to breathe more.
From 1st October the government is imposing a total ban on these products, and shops will have to throw away any remaining stocks (I’m sure there is some irony there).
We have already switched to birch wood forks – these have a much finer grain, so are much better than the old chip forkks that many people dislike.
This weekend we switched to trays made from sugar cane and card pots for our sauces (with plastic lids which are apparently okay..). We still have stock of chip cones and small boxes we use for side orders, so we will switch these out only when we have to.
As you will expect, this enforced change does not come for free. As well as forcing businesses to throw away stock they have paid for on an arbitary deadline, the replcement products are more expensive. While the costs have come down over recent years, there is still an increase.
The trays are only slightly more, though they used to be nearly double. the sauce pots however are nearly double. We have always kept margins thin to keep our prices cheaper, but increases like this (and the continuing inflation of our normal stock prices) has necessitated a price review.
Again, we have kept this to a minimum, we have not changed the price of many products, but have added a little to the price of chips, and the large sauces (7oz) have had to have a bigger increase. We have however reintroduced the smaller sauce size (4oz) for half the price, so it is even better value. By reintroducing this we have also made the small meal cheaper.
Going forward we will continue to do what we can to keep costs down. With the current financial climate we understand only too well how much of a treat a hot takeaway meal is for some, so as before we will only change our prices when we absolutely have to.