Zizzi’s Salisbury Novichok attack restaurant doubles customers on re-opening
The restaurant which was caught in the middle of the Salisbury Novichok poisoning has doubled its customers since re-opening last week.
The Salisbury branch of Zizzi was closed after traces of the Novichok nerve agent used to poison Sergei and Yulia Skripal were reported to have been discovered at the Italian restaurant.
“The last two days have been twice as busy as before we closed. Although we’ve got a modicum of caution, this week so far has been very, very busy,” said Steve Holmes, the chief executive of Zizzi parent Azzurri Group told City PM
Despite losing its Salisbury branch for several months, and keeping staff on full pay, Azzurri grew sales by 8.5 per cent to £280m in the financial year ending August.
The company added eight Zizzi branches, three ASK Italian, and four Coco di Mama, while refurbishing 33 of its 290 restaurants.
The group, has shifted some focus to alternative diets, Holmes said, with eight per cent of the 17m meals it sells each year being vegan.
“It’s not a trend that’s going to go away. The food is absolutely delicious. People are enjoying vegan food and having meat free days,” Holmes said.
The company also grew a whole field of purple basil in a field in Italy to produce an Instagramable purple pesto.
This year it plans to launch a breakfast carbonara with a poached egg on a creamy mushroom and pancetta base, Holmes said, admitting it may cause some anger in the Italian press.
He said new delivery services, such as Uber Eats and Deliveroo are helping, not hindering the group’s restaurants, and it has developed new takeaway packaging to be able to deliver its entire menu.
“We have embraced that, it’s a big channel for us. We got onto the delivery platforms three years ago, today it is a significant part of our business. We’ve embraced it and driven it.
“People either decide to eat in or eat out. I don’t think people think: ‘I really want a Zizzi – should we eat in or out?’” he said.
He continued: “Azzurri has gone into the new financial year with good momentum. Despite the challenging backdrop in the UK market, we are confident there is further opportunity for our brands to continue to grow.”
The group plans to open up 5-10 Coco di Mama restaurants, 5-10 Zizzi’s and 3-5 ASK’s in the coming year.