0B4H1OA4QUDV6TE_Nuneaton6

Costcutter triple ‘a’ in Nuneaton’s food to go journey started two years ago when they spent months researching the category across the globe including Greece, Ireland and Canada.

As a part of their business model, they looked at trends to suit professional couples, those who entertain at home, those who have busy lives and are time hungry, through to seniors and meeting their needs.

This research extended to the store’s design, with the kitchen was completely ‘open’ visually so customers can watch their meal being prepared and cooked, to provide great theatre, alongside a modern, vibrant feel to the store.

The team at triple ‘a’ prides itself on listening to its customers – and giving them what they want. One example of this is when the store introduced a Sunday Roast Lunch in Summer 2023, customers asked for freshly baked dessert options. The Sunday Roast Lunch sold 500 meals a week – and a result of this demand, they added a freshly baked apple crumble (made with local apples) and are developing this further to add home-made puddings to their Sunday FTG offering.

Keeping things sweet, further to the initial success of their freshly made Italian Gelato, initially launched with 18 flavours, they’ve added even more flavours in 2024, invested in expensive new equipment and increased capacity. They now employ three people to man this station alone, with demand still increasing. Not stopping there, they also launched their own specially designed milk shakes in 2024

In order to optimise their FTG offer, in 2024 they have also turned to technology to add convenience and ease to customers’ shopping experience. This has been achieved through developing a bespoke ‘collection’ app in which customers can now place their order for FTG (pizzas, gyros, baguettes) through smart technology and then drive to the store. The technology now tells staff when they have reached the car park and which parking bay they are situated in, and the team immediately takes out their order.

As part of their willingness to innovate, the owners went to Germany to study new trends and enjoy fresh ideas and have already launched a Berlin Donner Sandwich. 

Following a significant investment in the site’s car park, it’s now big enough to host food festivals where local producers come and sell their products and food to go items.

The category’s standards are incredibly high and the owners insist that the team looks and behaves professionally all day, every day, describing them as “fantastic ambassadors for our business”.

The team has also worked carefully to manage food waste in recognition that not only is the right way to do business, but that waste always equals cost. They monitor all data closely as it helps to better understand the ‘peaks’ and ‘troughs’ of trading times, enabling them to manage their supply chain effectively (with daily deliveries) and allowing for fast-track adjustment of quantities as needed.

Furthermore, the majority of the food-to-go is cooked to order so in that respect, any waste is minimal. Any waste they do have is usually edible, and this all goes to the local food bank to help provide those who are homeless with a good meal.

Food to go can also extend into other areas of the store’s charity endeavours. Some examples include: running free weekly Coffee & Chat mornings for local seniors which includes lots of cakes and pastries from the bakery; product donations to the local food bank with more than £3k of food per month from the store; providing a hot meal and drink for every homeless and vulnerable individuals on Christmas Day and every day during term time, they give away a free breakfast bagel, made on the food-to-go counter to every child at our local primary school.

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