Fast food gets fresh

Mention fast food and what comes to mind? McDonald's, Burger King, KFC? Thought so. What about a healthier option, such as a sandwich from Pret A Manger or Marks & Spencer?

Do the words "fast food" make you think of quality products, fresh ingredients and creative menus? Probably not - as fast food is all about convenience and affordability, with maybe a nagging doubt about the source of the meat you take away in your polystyrene box.

While the fine and casual dining markets have changed dramatically over the past 10 years, the fast-food industry has lagged behind. Stuck in a rut, fixated on the idea of convenience over all else, the major chains have, in general, failed to evolve. Only after McDonald's slipped into the red for the first time did the company open its eyes to changing customer demands, adding pasta salads to its menus in a long overdue attempt to woo back trade.

But health consciousness is not the only thing to have opened punters' eyes. Globalisation, immigration and an increasing interest in food have combined with BSE, foot-and-mouth disease and concerns over growing rates of obesity to make the consumer stop before he bites and ask the unthinkable: why does fast food have to be unhealthy, and why does cheap come at such a high price?

Times are changing, though, and a sandwich is no longer enough for a discerning audience. Although fast-food sales have increased by 27.1% since 1998 (while restaurant sales have grown by just over 20%), the sector has become increasingly competitive.

So look out, all you fast-food restaurants serving fries with everything - there is a quiet revolution beginning to rumble in the market. If you thought fast food couldn't be about quality, fresh ingredients and variety, think again.

Real Burger World

Naz Choudhury and his business partner, Mark Viegas, both 31, were frustrated students. A three-year search for a meal that offered convenience, value for money, and fresh, wholesome food left them unsatisfied.

"We used to go to an Indian restaurant called This and That in Manchester, where you could have rice and three curries for £2.20," says Choudhury. "Then we noticed that there were suits as well as students eating in there, and decided that there was a market for better quality fast food which was being overlooked."

What was going to be an Indian take-away restaurant eventually metamorphosed into Real Burger World - a traditional fast-food restaurant serving untraditionally quality products - which opened in south-east London in May.

Eight varieties of burger are hand-pressed from freshly delivered mince, and chargrilled, while chips are made from washed but unpeeled sacks of potatoes. Milk shakes are made with real fruits or Belgian chocolate. All the food is prepared on a daily basis, and fresh, quality ingredients are the priority.

"The idea came to me when I was reading Fast Food Nation," says Choudhury, brandishing two shiny new copies of the book. "The fast-food industry has been static for a long time. But people care about the quality of what they're eating today, so things have got to change. We decided to start with the burger and take it back to basics."

Affordability remains key. Average spend in the 48-seat restaurant is £4.50, and lunch is the main market. Location was also vital for the pilot restaurant, which needed to be in a high-density area whose denizens had a comfortable level of disposable income.

Business got under way in August 2002, with set-up costs of about £300,000 paid by a business angel Choudhury met while completing an MBA course. Now, although business is still warming up, two more restaurants are planned for 2004.

"There's a fine line between profits and providing fresh food, but we will not compromise on our philosophy of affordability and quality," says Choudhury. "We're still in the development stage,but what Pret [A Manger] has done for cold food we're going to do for hot."

Real Burger World

252 Lavender Hill, London SW11
Tel: 020 7738 1500
Web:www.realburgerworld.co.uk
Staff: 12 (on rota)
Investment: £300,000
Average spend: £4.50
Seats: 48

Instant Italian

Tom Allchurch is the proud owner of Fresh Italy, the only place in the country where you can buy a freshly made pasta or risotto meal to order and receive it in less than a minute-and-a-half. And there's no microwave oven or freezer involved.

Allchurch is new to the hospitality industry - although he did work with the kit-meal company, Rocket, while working for Unilever - but moved into the fast-food market because he saw a gap in the market. "There is classic fast food, a mature sandwich market and a successful casual dining industry," he says, "but in terms of quality, quick and affordable alternatives, there's not much."

He adds: "The reason I'm doing Fresh Italy is because I love Italian food, but people are so busy and mobile these days they want food available to fit into their day."

Following three months of research to find out exactly how his idea could work, and a £5m investment from private backers - the first site cost £250,000 to kit out - his first restaurant, on London's Ludgate Hill, opened on 2 July.

The concept of Fresh Italy is simple: you walk in, choose what you want from a selection of pasta or risotto meals listed on a board above the counter, order from the cashier, and are united with your meal, served in a reinforced take-away coffee cup, in less than a minute-and-a-half.

Each meal is cooked to order, using fresh ingredients, on a specially designed induction cooker. Rice and pasta are imported weekly from Italy, par-cooked off site, and stored below the cookers. There are no added preservatives, and fresh basil is harvested daily from the numerous stainless-steel tubs adorning the restaurant walls.

Italian-themed sandwiches, salads and desserts, plus drinks (both alcoholic and non-intoxicating), are also available. Average spend is £4 and the outlet is already serving an average of 600-700 customers a day.

"Location is very important for fast food, particularly with the lunchtime market," says Allchurch. "We wanted a good, central London spot in a lunchtime destination area with a high density of office workers. There are 40,000 people within 300 yards of this restaurant."

Expansion is already on the way. Another restaurant is planned to open before Christmas, and a third in the new year.

Fresh Italy

38-48 Ludgate Hill, London EC4M 7DE
Tel: 020 7329 5729
Web:www.fresh-italy.com
Opened: July 2003 Investment: £5m Staff: 14 (on rota)
Average spend: £4 Covers: 600-700

Square Pie Company

"Music is a very important part of our offering," says Martin Dewey, creator of the Square Pie Company (SPC) and former manager of a reggae band. "Put the wrong music on and you don't sell pies. You can't beat Barry White on a Friday lunchtime."

His work in the City of London (where, he says, all you talk about is what you're going to have for lunch that day) and a desire for a decent pie and a boozy lunch were the inspiration behind SPC, which now sells 250-300 pies from its Spitalfields Market outlet between noon and 2.30pm each day. The record is 700 on a Sunday.

The company's products also went down extremely well at the Glastonbury and V music festivals this year.

"Pie and mash was the original fast food. It's been going for 150 years - way before McDonald's," Dewey asserts. "We've taken the basic principle and modernised it, because people want quality. They don't trust pies any more, so we've got to be very open as to what goes into ours. That means no E-numbers in the stocks, lots of butter in the pastry, and slow-cooked, free-range meat with a classically trained French chef making them fresh every day."

Remortgaging his flat to bring in the £20,000 start-up investment has proved worthwhile for Dewey. Since opening in December 2002, SPC has supplied London's Loch Tavern and the Social Bar, and two more pie outlets are planned for later this year.

Dewey says SPC might go national via franchise agreements at some stage, but only on the condition that quality is maintained. He is currently working with the food science and technology department at Reading University to realise ways of extending production without losing quality.

His Hackney kitchen, where all pies are produced, is currently working at only 20% capacity with expansion in mind.

"People are sick of constantly being oversold, over-marketed, and then what you get is not as good as the hype," says Dewey. "Here, we give simple ingredients, well cooked, so the customer is pleasantly surprised."

Does Dewey believe in a fast-food revolution? "There is a market for fast food, but food you can trust," he says. "We're changing attitudes to pies, but it's happening on a bigger scale, too. People are asking why fast food has to be so crap. Just remember - a pie is not just for lunch."

Square Pie Company

South-east corner, Spitalfields Market, London E1
Tel: 020 8533 7555
Web:www.squarepiecompany.com
Investment: £20,000 Staff: 10 (full-time) Average spend: £5.50 Covers: 200-300 a day