Picnicking is the new dining out
After the restaurant and the farmers market at Riccarton House were forced to shut for a month during the most recent lockdown, the owners began thinking about how they could generate income easily if alert levels changed again.
A previous reliance on event bookings for weddings and corporate functions had to be set aside, at least for the time being, as it became clear the bounce back would not be as strong as last year, co-owner Amanda Marchant said.
Sam and Amanda Marchant have owned the restaurant, farmers market and events business at Riccarton House since 2003, which they lease from the Riccarton Bush Trust.
‘‘We got back into work and the restaurant was definitely quieter. We had lots of cancellations and as we were coming into summer we tried to think about things we could do easily if levels changed.’’
The solution was high-end picnics that could be ordered online. Customers could have them delivered or collect them to eat in the grounds at Riccarton House, a historic villa in Christchurch.
Marchant said the focus was on making the picnics beautifully packaged. ‘‘There is massive attention to detail and little cards in there. The range covers a good number of things and we can change things as we go.
‘‘The range we have now is working really well and the feedback has been good.’’
The picnics contain things such as scotch eggs and homemade relish, frittatas, artisan cheeses and crackers and seasonal salads, and sweet treats such as brownies and mini pavlovas. Staff will even set up a table and chairs under one of the huge trees in the gardens if people don’t want to sit on the ground.
And they have not stopped there. The couple are also developing The Quarters at Home website, so customers can order treats like cheese scones or coffee to take away.
‘‘We do beautiful high teas, and we are looking at doing delivering those in a beautiful way with all our bone china and napkins that we can collect the next day.
‘‘We want to give gorgeous experiences.’’
And in case the farmers market has to close again, the couple plan to put together bags of non-perishable items from the market to keep the business going. These would be permanent arms to the business, not temporary lifelines, she said.
‘‘We have families and 22 staff we want to hold on to.’’
An estimated 13,000 jobs have been lost because of 1000 hospitality business closing since the start of the pandemic.
East Auckland bistro Pepperjacks has also been busy working out how to keep customers’ attention.
Owners Lidushan Chandrakumar and Angela Leng bought the business three months ago, so have never known what pre-Covid business looked like.
They have had to adapt and innovate from day one and when it was announced that 10 people from two households could gather outside at alert level 3, picnic hampers were an obvious choice.
They made immediate plans and the picnics were launched the following day. They were now selling five or six picnic packs a day after selling out completely in the first week. The largest one can feed four to six adults.
The income was supplementing sales from cabinet food and takeaways, bringing in an extra $700 a day.
‘‘Longer term, because of the popularity we are thinking of continuing with them. We are thinking of introducing more baskets, your summer and spring rolls and a roast chicken, coleslaw and buns option. The intention is to cover a broad range of customers.
‘‘It is a tough period but you have got to be innovative and keep going. The thing that we have noticed is to keep marketing and put your brand out there. We have noticed a lot of local support.’’
The couple were now thinking of doing home kit meals as well, Chandrakumar said.
Bandung Cafe in Parnell has also introduced lunchtime picnic boxes. Owner Esmerelda Kasmara said the boxes were popular when the weather was good because more people were out and about. A few people were taking them to the park and others took them home.
‘‘We just have one set picnic menu but there is a choice between nasi goreng or mee goreng. They feed two to three people.’’
It was a new way to market the cafe and ‘‘keep relevant’’ with customers but business was still pretty slow, she said.