Page 39 - CW-MAY-JUNE-2020

WINTER WARMERS “Because pies are so well known, it really is a challenge for all of us, pie makers, to come up with new and exciting ideas, flavours." to perhaps cut back on our red meat slightly, without having to necessarily give away the foods that we love. So, we’re seeing good volume in the plant-based products.” However, NPD within this category isn’t just about plant-based creations. Flavour fusions and experimenting are playing a part as well. “Fillings that aren’t usually associated with pies, such as seafood marinara, were very popular over the Christmas and Easter periods,” Mr Garlick said, adding that Garlo’s Pies’ Vegetable Mornay range of vegetable-based products “are always popular come Easter time as well”. “It’s keeping the brand relevant with new and exciting flavours, probably \\\\\\\[flavours\\\\\\\] that you wouldn’t normally expect to see wrapped in pastry,” he added. “The reality is \\\\\\\[though\\\\\\\] that despite having all of these flavours – we’d probably have more than 30 different flavours sold in different areas – the good old-fashioned plain pie and sausage roll still account for all the other \\\\\\\[sales put\\\\\\\] together. So, while we work hard and there’s a lot of creativity going into new products, people overwhelmingly go back to what they know.” This familiarity with the traditional has never been more important than now, with the challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic, which Mr Garlick says explains why the company “saw such a huge spike” in product sales recently. “We were seeing a 100 to 200 per cent increase in sales, especially while panic buying was happening,” he said. “And while the world \\\\\\\[is\\\\\\\] so uncertain, we just, I suppose, subconsciously go back to what we know and can rely on.” While the coronavirus challenge and the panic buying that ensued led to a jump in sales, as with other businesses, it also created the immediate need for the company to implement some crucial health and safety measures. Mr Garlick says the business introduced many pandemic-related changes with the health and safety of staff and production being paramount. “\\\\\\\[We started\\\\\\\] temperature-testing everyone on arrival at work and insisted that if \\\\\\\[anyone\\\\\\\] had the slightest symptom, they were to stay at home,” he said. The company also implemented social distancing on the production line, while adjusting the working roster and production schedule to ensure physical distancing, and enforcing the wearing of facemasks. “Overall safeguarding in terms of washing hands, sanitising, facemasks and the distancing ... all of that sort of thing just to keep everybody less congregated ... it’s a consideration we’ve never had to make before, but now it’s part of our routine \\\\\\\[and\\\\\\\] everybody has accepted it really well,” he said. In terms of pie sales at convenience stores, Mr Garlick said: “I think convenience stores ... \\\\\\\[are\\\\\\\] for those who forget to get \\\\\\\[something\\\\\\\] in their main shop and are going past convenience stores and picking it up while they’re there. So, I think that’s going to continue a fair bit. You know, we’re not going out, we’re not doing the regular shopping routine that we were. The environment’s very different ... these days.” MAY/JUN, 2020 CONVENIENCE WORLD 37