Tim Martin has revealed the most popular food and drink items on the Wetherspoons menu are far from traditional pub fare as the chain eyes a series of new locations in 2025
Wetherspoons chief Tim Martin has revealed the pub chain’s top selling item – and its one most people typically wouldn’t associate with any Brit boozer.
Since it popped up across the country in 1979, Wetherspoons has become famous for its massive drinks selection and diverse menu, with many pubs offering almost as many dishes as they do pints of beer, cider, or cocktails. While Brits have such a wide selection to choose from, founder and CEO Mr Martin has revealed that most of the approximately 40 million people who visit a Spoons each year gravitate towards one item that isn’t usually on offer at a pub.
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Speaking to the Daily Express, the CEO revealed that a basic cup of tea with some toast is most customers’ must-have item. He said: “The biggest single items now are breakfasts which is a weird idea since most pubs don’t open for breakfast. [The biggest seller] is one which we didn’t have on the menu some years ago; tea and toast.”
The breakfast isn’t Mr Martin’s only surprise seller, as even alcohol isn’t the most popular drink anymore. The bestselling draft item is Pepsi, he said, and on the non-draft side, coffee is even more popular. Mr Martin continued: “Our biggest selling draft product now is Pepsi and we sell more coffee than Pepsi.”
“I would say pubs have moved on from just selling beer to a wider variety of products; food and soft drinks. When we put [Wetherspoon] on the stock market in 1992 our average food sales per pub per week were £500, last week they were £23,000.
“So it’s certainly progressed. We’re still selling a lot of beer as well [but compared to the 90s] we sell much more wine, more cocktails [and] probably more spirits.” The revelations come as Wetherspoons eyes a later opening, with the CEO eyeing opening times that could rival most clubs.
Many Wetherspoons stay open unil 1am in the UK on the weekend, giving people ample time to enjoy a night at the pub, but Mr Martin said he was weighing the benefits of opening for another hour. He told the Daily Star: “We open until 1am in most pubs at the weekend, but if we opened for another hour maybe that would be a good thing.”
The chain will soon welcome a host of new locations, with nine included in expansion plans for 2025, many of which are only likely to see it sell more coffees and breakfast. Among the upcoming pubs are locations at Manchester Airport’s Terminal Two, Fulham Broadway Station, and London Bridge’s Tooley Street.
The other sites – on top of two that have already opened in Marlow, Buckinghamshire at London Waterloo station – are on Bath’s George Street, Beaconsfield’s Station Road, Wetherby High Street, and Fareham’s Whiteley shopping centre.