Whiteheads switches to Ceres Gluten Free Batter Mix to grow its business
Posted by Emily on 3rd Aug 2024
Catering to dietary requirements is the way forward, says Geoff Whitehead, owner of Whiteheads Fish & Chips in Hornsea, East Yorkshire, but he admits it can be expensive and requires the right setup and investment
Geoff Whitehead only ever thinks long-term, for him short-term is never an option. It’s why three years into running Whiteheads on a takeaway-only basis, he bought the post office next door and opened a 70-seater restaurant. It’s the reason he installed 28 solar panels on his roof and is looking to add multiple wind turbines which together will power the whole restaurant. And it was the catalyst for spending £100,000 earlier this year creating a dedicated gluten free frying area complete with a 2 pan, high efficiency frying range to safely cater for coeliacs.
Maintaining a laser focus on growing his business - and doing so responsibly and sustainably - has seen Whiteheads win numerous accolades: Fish & Chip Takeaway of the Year at the 2023 National Fish & Chip Awards and the Environment and Sustainability Award at the 2024 Awards.
On his journey towards improvement and advancement, Geoff switched to using Ceres Gluten Free Batter Mix. This change came after he requested samples of the batter and following his upgrade to a dedicated gluten free cooking area. “I’ve used various gluten free batters over the years but prefer the Ceres one. It’s not heavy, it's crisp, it's light, and it has a lovely flavour,” he says.
“As soon as we switched the comments came thick and fast. Our customers could see that we had altered our batter and they all said it was extremely nice.”
Geoff finds Ceres Gluten Free Batter easier to handle than normal flour, adding: “It's quite difficult to explain but flour, when you feel it, is quite a heavy ingredient, whereas the Ceres Gluten Free Batter Mix is a light flour so it’s really easy to mix. We get a perfect consistency, the thickness that we like, and the timings and everything when it comes to frying are the same as before so we don’t have to do anything differently.”
Used across a variety of products - including fish, patties and sausages - gluten free options are available every day of the week, however they are not only bringing in coeliacs, as Geoff explains: “With gluten free, you're satisfying an audience that ordinarily wasn't able to have fish and chips and they're bringing the family in with them so you get an additional footfall. I acknowledge that not all shops can offer gluten free, but for us, it does make a big difference.”
That difference is a 7% uplift in sales. While this might sound insignificant at first glance, the additional revenue from sides, drinks, and desserts that customers purchase, along with the spending from non-coeliac members of a group, adds up to a substantial increase in overall revenue.
Plus, gluten free is a growing market for Whiteheads, increasing year-on-year by around 2%. “Although they may sound small numbers, they're not,” says Geoff. “Ultimately, the percentage of people that are coeliacs and who have a wheat intolerance is very low. So those percentages, when pro rata, really are not low at all.”
The only downside Geoff has found in catering for coeliacs is that it often involves additional costs due to the need for gluten free ingredients and ongoing staff training. “Catering for coeliacs can be expensive, which is why very few shops will do it because of the additional cost increase. But if you’ve got the right setup and you've invested wisely and you do things correctly, it counteracts it.”
Geoff applies a 20p surcharge on his gluten-free items to help offset some of the costs and advises shops to have a dedicated gluten free menu produced to avoid a major pitfall he encountered.
“Initially we said on the main menu there was a 20p surcharge for gluten free. Now, 99.9% of customers understand why we do that but we had one customer who took exception to the wording so now we have a dedicated gluten free menu that is separate from the main menu with all the prices on.”
Geoff appreciates the convenience of ordering Gluten Free Batter online from the Ceres Shop, adding: “I go straight onto the online store, select Ceres Gluten Free Batter Mix, put it in the basket, press pay and it's usually delivered the next working day. When it comes to my normal suppliers, they only come once a week. Not that I would do an order every day, but if I do require a particular product and I know it will come the next day, then that’s great peace of mind.”