Overview
When brothers Sanjay and Rishi Chandarana first became aware of the opportunity to acquire a building almost on the exact spot where their grandfather ran a local store for many years, they jumped at the chance to write their own next chapter in this location’s rich history. The brothers were already successful local businessmen with three flourishing convenience stores in and around the busy Hertfordshire market town of Hitchin. With three popular locations already under their belts, the brothers were confident of success – the only challenge was that the unit was zoned for food, not retail…and they had never operated in that sector before.
Challenge
Starting from scratch, the brothers first identified that they wanted to use the best equipment to ensure they were serving customers the best food. Having decided that they wanted to install Henny Penny fryers, the next logical conversation was with Jestic Foodservice Solutions as the Henny Penny distributor in the UK. It quickly became apparent to Sanjay and Rishi that this was one of the best decisions they could have made, because the Jestic team was integral in advising the brothers on a wide range of elements – not just equipment. They knew that Jestic could supply the best equipment, but the real eye-opener for the brothers was the depth of knowledge, experience, and commitment that they team showed to getting the Peckers concept up and running.
“With our retail background, we’re passionate about both service and quality and we were 100% committed to ensuring that our offer was going to be all about great food, a great environment and brilliant service. When we spoke with Jestic they were able to advise us to the right route to take for the best success. We had thought we wanted to do pizza and chicken, but they advised us to pick a single core menu focus and concentrate on excelling at that – and that’s exactly what we have been able to do with Peckers. We want every single customer that comes through the door or receives a delivery from Peckers to be thrilled and delighted and the team at Jestic has given us advice that helps us do this.”
Peckers has a distinctly urban feel in a suburban location, offering the brothers a brilliantly blank canvas to bring their creativity to life. The menu features a range of inspiring chicken sandwiches with everything from onion bhajis to hash browns, helping create several of Peckers signature “burger” builds. Back of house, the kitchen is compact but functional with the chef working seamlessly with the kitchen team to bread, cook and serve fresh chicken every single day.
At the heart of the kitchen are a pair of Henny Penny fryers – a 4-head pressure fryer for chicken and an Evolution Elite open fryer for French Fries and hashbrowns.
Supporting the frying operation is a Henny Penny 903 Half-Size Heated Holding Cabinet that keeps food ready to serve until it’s needed, giving employees the ability to prepare food ahead of time in anticipation of the coming rush.
“We knew when we were planning the store that we wanted the very best in terms of operations, reliability, and service. Henny Penny has been a great addition to the kitchen, and we will definitely install Henny Penny in our future sites. What’s also been great when working with Jestic is that whilst they were very present during the planning and installation of the store, the after-sales has also been exceptional. When we’ve had any problems, we’ve had an engineer out in 24 hours to resolve the issue and we carry on. The equipment is robust and reliable, but the service aftercare gives us an added layer of confidence that our business has everything in place to succeed.”
Results
Overall, both Sanjay and Rishi are delighted with their first move into foodservice and the help and advice they’ve had from everyone at Jestic. From menu planning to equipment selection and advising on how the day-to-day operations can be better streamlined and made more efficient, Jestic has constantly been on hand to offer expert advice whenever they need it.
“We couldn’t be happier with the guys at Jestic – they have made our transition from purely retail into foodservice a rewarding and positive journey. It hasn’t been easy, and it has definitely taken a huge amount of hard work to get where we are today – but we genuinely don’t think we would be as successful as we have been without the advice, support and encouragement of everyone at Jestic. They really are the go-to people for equipment, service, advice and much more”.
Peckers is now a well-established local success story with customers genuinely enjoying the fact that something so contemporary with such quality has arrived in the local area. The business and its menu will continue to evolve – they already have their eyes on another site as the expansion plans for the Peckers concept continue to develop.
The Peckers story really demonstrates just how vital Henny Penny distributors are in sharing knowledge with operators and chefs around the world. From advice to equipment and everything in between, Jestic Foodservice Solutions can help ensure your project is successful and your kitchen is kept up and running.