COVER STORY

www.foodserviceequipmentjournal.com22 | Foodservice Equipment Journal | August 2015

he Spur Corporation

certainly doesn’t lack pedigree.

Founded in 1967 when execu-

tive chairman Allen Ambor

opened the first Spur Steak

Ranches outlet in Cape Town, South Africa, the

business has mushroomed into a formidable

player on the international foodservice circuit.

Consisting of half a dozen restaurant brands

that between them account for more than

500 outlets globally, the group’s last available

financial figures reveal a business with sales up

12% to R3.2 billion (£165m) for the six months

ending December 2014. 19 new restaurants

opened during that period while dozens more

are planned both at home and abroad as the

chain looks to enhance its position in markets

where it spies room for further growth.

Spur restaurants are dotted all around Africa

and have spread to Mauritius, Australia and,

of course, the UK where it has existing outlets

in Aberdeen, Grays, Leicester, Staines and The

02 Arena. Yet while the UK casual dining and

eating-out market has skyrocketed in recent

years, leading many of its rivals to embark on

huge roll-out programmes, the group has been

left frustrated by its own position.

With its sites typically spanning up to

4,000 square feet and attracting the sort of

lofty occupancy, labour and service costs

you might expect of a footprint that size,

Spur has struggled to trade up against

other high street brands that have

crossed its path. Last year

it conceded that the

high set-up cost of

opening a full Spur Steak Ranch in the UK was

proving to be a “significant obstacle” to pursuing

the franchise model it is ultimately gunning for.

But it might just have found a way out of that

rut courtesy of a new high street model it has

created called ‘Spur RBW’. It holds the key to

turning around the company’s fortunes in the

UK and elevating the status of the brand to a

level that has previously proved out of reach.

Designed as a smaller, counter-service

concept that essentially offers ribs, burgers

and wings (hence the ‘RBW’ name), the model

allows for lower set-up costs, more manageable

occupancy costs and reduced labour provisions.

The man charged with executing this strategy

and all that comes with it is David Maich. While

he goes by the title of ‘director’, Maich effec-

tively oversees every element of the business,

from the flow of the kitchens and the purchas-

ing of new catering equipment to the develop-

ment of the menu and the interior design.

When FEJ catches up with him during lunch

service at the company’s restaurant in Corby —

the first new RBW site to open and very much

a test bed for the model overall — he is under-

standably excited about its prospects and the

ways in which it differs from the larger

Spur sites that UK customers have

only known up to now.

“Our existing brand coming from

South Africa was more of a copy

and paste, and to a certain extent

that hasn’t translated as well as

we would have expected. So

rather than rebrand the ex-

isting base we are looking

Spurred into action

As the company behind the Spur Steak and Grill outlets refreshes its UK store strategy with a smaller, counter-service, high street model, FEJ

editor Andrew Seymour finds out why it is turning its back on flame-heavy, gas-guzzling chargrills and pioneering a fully ventless kitchen

set-up built around the latest innovation in impinged air cooking.

T

Inside

RBW’s

new Corby

restaurant

and

(below)

David

Maich.

COVER STORY

www.foodserviceequipmentjournal.com August 2015 | Foodservice Equipment Journal | 23

“The Ovention runs either on con-

veyor or shuttle mode and guarantees

a consistent product,” explains Maich.

“We have inputted all our recipes,

belt speeds and temperatures so that

our core product will be consistent

throughout the estate, and we feel that

is the way forward. Innovation in the

kitchen assists with labour, it assists

with consistency and it ensures us of

delivering that experience every time.”

Maich came across Ovention by ac-

cident. He was at a trade show check-

ing out combination ovens when a

conversation led to him hearing about

the appliance. When he got the chance

to see it firsthand through the product’s

UK distributor Gamble Foodservice So-

lutions he could immediately see how it

would fit with RBW’s new vision.

“Obviously coming from a flame-

grilled background, it is a difficult

transition to move away from that

approach where you are transferring

that chargrilled flavour on the grill

and getting the grid lines, but what we

have found more often than not is that

there is a fine line between taking your

product to a ‘well done’ state as opposed

to ‘well prepared’. That inconsistency is

what we have tried to cut out.

He continues: “We have designed

a new burger, we have a high spec rib

that we pre-cook from scratch and

marinade for 24 hours, and we have

ring-fenced a specific prime wing,

which is 45 grams per, and that is

standard throughout our estate. All of

these changes are guaranteeing us the

delivery of a great product.”

forward to rolling out RBW to a critical

mass of 35 sites,” he explains, revealing

that his targets moving forward include

the launch of four sites a year until a

core mass of eight sites is reached, at

which point it will then explore the

viability of franchising and run both

revenue streams in tandem.

While the contemporary décor,

carefully-constructed menu and

rapid service policy are likely to strike

a favourable chord with time-strapped,

hungry punters, it is the work that has

taken place back-of-house that best

illustrates the brave new direction the

chain is taking. At the heart of the set-

up is a fully ventless kitchen operation

that powers along without the noise,

odour and extraction issues normally

associated with the fast-casual market.

This has largely been achieved

through the deployment of two preci-

sion impingement conveyor ovens from

Ovention, the US-based company set up

by Phil McKee, inventor of the Turbo-

Chef oven, and now owned by foodser-

vice equipment manufacturer Hatco.

OUR EXISTING BRAND COMING FROM SOUTH AFRICA WAS MORE OF A COPY

AND PASTE, AND TO A CERTAIN EXTENT THAT HASN’T TRANSLATED AS WELL AS WE WOULD HAVE EXPECTED”

COVER STORY

www.foodserviceequipmentjournal.com24 | Foodservice Equipment Journal | August 2015

Maich admits it was a “massive

step” to put his faith in a product and

method of cooking that the chain

hadn’t previously encountered. “It

is nerve-wracking because you can

do as many trial product tests in a

controlled environment as you like,

but when you get a queue out the door

and you have to produce the goods it

puts a lot of pressure on the equipment

that you have effectively endorsed. We

have innovation as far as busy periods

and quiet periods go to ensure that the

product is maintained, and we feel that

it has served us well so far.”

Getting to this point in the first place

was the culmination of an eight-month

test period that saw an Ovention Shut-

tle installed at Spur’s existing site at the

02 Arena. Maich scrutinised how the

impingement process affected product

pre-cooked in a combi and the way in

which hot-hold equipment could be

best utilised. The tests also included

comprehensive product plate-up and

speccing through to how the end-

product would be served. The result is

that virtually the entire menu is built

around the Ovention.

“There is a lot that goes through it —

caramelised onions, bacon, hot dogs,

we even cook our cheesecake in it,” says

Maich. “There is a lot you can do with it

if you get the right programme, you just

have to spend a bit of time with it.”

The Corby site has space for around

90 covers so the secret to the kitchen

running smoothly during service is

all in the prep work. “As long as your

pre-cooking is done, you are limit-

less to what you can serve through the

Ovention,” comments Maich. “Yes, we

have paid a ball park of X amount per

week for that Ovention to cover — that

is why we have got a second one above

it, because it offers a buffer just in case

— but we will do most of our bespoke

products on Shuttle mode upstairs and

the chicken and the ribs downstairs.”

RBW’s next planned site is in Glas-

gow later this year and Ovention is on

the kitchen agenda. However, Maich

SOUS VIDE UNDER THE MICROSCOPE

WE HAVE INPUTTED ALL OUR RECIPES, BELT SPEEDS AND TEMPERATURES

SO THAT OUR CORE PRODUCT WILL BE CONSISTENT THROUGHOUT THE ESTATE, AND WE FEEL THAT IS THE WAY FORWARD”

Spur Corporation has gone back to the drawing board in creating a kitchen packed full of foodservice equiment innovation for the launch of its RBW high street concept.

But it has no intention of resting on its laurels. UK director David Maich’s next big catering equipment project involves examining the feasibility of introducing sous vide into the kitchen’s operational methods.

EHO regulations dictate that burgers are not allowed to be served under 75°C, which renders medium or medium-rare for a mince product totally out of the question. But using the sous vide process to kill the bacteria before it is put through the Ovention would allow RBW the novelty of being able to

offer a medium-rare burger without contravening food safety guidelines. With burgers representing around 30% to 40% of its sales mix, it is an opportunity too good not to explore.

Additionally, sous vide could have implications for the way it produces ribs. At the moment RBW follows on an hour-long steaming process, assisted by convection, to get the product to the right state before the marinade is applied. The next day the ribs are re-gened for 10 minutes on 100% steam to get up to temperature, held in warmers and cooked in the Ovention to order. However, the addition of sous vide potentially alters the game.

Maich explains: “If we pre-cook ribs and it is a sous vide product we can cook the marinade in there and it will fuse with the meat so that the meat tastes amazing. We can lightly crisp it up through the Ovention and when it is dipped in basting sauce it literally falls off the bone. What you don’t want is this ‘boil in the bag’ situation where the bones almost disintegrate into your mouth — that is not what we are looking at, we are looking at a proper rack of ribs where sous vide is used to inject the marinade and to increase the flavour of the product. It is not in place yet, but it is something that we are investigating. We have sent our core products to a company to test for us and I am going along to do a workshop with them later this month.”

COVER STORY

www.foodserviceequipmentjournal.com August 2015 | Foodservice Equipment Journal | 25

stresses that the technology in opera-

tion at the maiden Corby site is still

very much under review. “I am not say-

ing I will not go gas moving forward, it

depends if I find a site that has an exist-

ing infrastructure, like a restaurant that

is maybe distressed. If it has gas supply

and I take over that infrastructure

then we will adapt the model accord-

ingly. But ideally this ventless model

is cleaner and the catalytic converter

above the Ovention is doing its job very

well. It is still early days, we are going to

take the first three months and see how

it is and then make the call on what we

are doing in Glasgow.”

The evidence certainly suggests the

model is conducive to future expansion

and without the need for extraction

canopies and gas appliances the chain

is theoretically better placed to navigate

the sort of red tape associated with

installing commercial kitchens in A1

premises. It also opens it up to airport

sites, while the savings associated with

running the kitchen at a lower tem-

perature and reduced fire and safety re-

quirements bring obvious cost benefits.

RBW’s kitchen in Corby is relatively

small for the level of output it expects

to do, but the selection and placement

of equipment is designed to ensure the

operation functions seamlessly at even

the busiest of times. Other products

that the company has deployed include

a combi steamer from Falcon, a Lincat

triple basket fryer with built-in Britan-

nia ventilation, Hatco holding units,

Alto-Shaam heated drawer warmers

and Foster refrigeration cabinets. The

company has also moved some items of

equipment across from other sites.

The only thing that Maich wishes

was better is the scullery section as its

size has proved prohibitive in terms of

managing the flow of dirties. However,

that is being fixed and will be a factor

that is taken into full consideration for

future restaurant openings.

Most significantly, though, the bill

for putting together the kitchen is

dramatically less than what it would be

for a traditionally-sized site, thereby

complementing the lower-cost operat-

ing model that is so intrinsic to the new

strategy. Past UK kitchen installations

have been known to cost as much as

£150,000. The kitchen in Corby was cre-

ated for around £50,000.

If the company can achieve an ROI

on its set-up costs within 18 months and

create a practical template for future

openings then it is adamant the model

will become a viable franchise option.

It is already in talks with one poten-

tial franchisee in Kent, but first it has

to make Corby and the next few sites

work. As well as Glasgow it is eyeing up

locations in Edinburgh, Dundee and

Manchester, while Maich is keen on

the idea of opening in Northampton,

Cambridge and Milton Keynes to create

an ‘M1 corridor’ that would bring huge

benefits from an operational and brand

association point of view.

Spur has undergone some monumen-

tal changes in the four years that Maich

has been with the UK business, but with

Corby now up and trading the chain has

got the bit firmly between its teeth.

“I have been driving this for a long

time, since I have arrived really, and it is

finally here, so I am really excited about

it and we definitely think it has legs. We

are certainly happy with the reception

we have got from customers so far.”

The Spur Corporation might be an

old hand at the restaurant game, but

this latest venture represents the start

of a thrilling new journey in the UK.

RBW’s Corby kitchen is set

to serve as a template for

future store roll-outs. Spur (SA) 72%

Panarottis (SA) 8%

John Dory’s 5%

Captain DoRegos (SA) 3%

Hussar Grill 1%

International 11%

SPUR CORPORATION RESTAURANT SALES

A sample of what you can find on RBW’s menu:

RBW Classic burger 7oz prime beef, with baby gem lettuce, tomato, red onion, pickles and RBW mayo (£5.95)

Smoked burger 7oz prime beef with smoked Applewood cheddar, smoked bacon and chipotle mayo (£7.50)

9oz ribs With bourbon apple sour glaze (£4.95)

35oz ribs With St. Louis dry rub (£16.95)

8 chicken wings With ‘suicide’ sauce (£6.95)

Slumdog gourmet hot dogSmoked dog, curry sauce, coriander and coconut yoghurt (£7.95)

Cheescake in a jar Digestive biscuit base topped with home-made smooth vanilla panna cotta cheesecake. Served in a jar with strawberry compote (£4.95)

FROM THE MENU

Source: Spur Corporation Annual Report 2014