A seaside pub is celebrating a partnership with a food wholesaler spanning more than five decades.
The Tŷ Coch Inn in Porthdinllaen on the Llyn Peninsula has worked with suppliers Harlech Foodservice since 1973. It was the same year that electricity reached the remote site, transforming the business overnight and allowing the pub to serve proper hot meals for the very first time.
Since then the inn has attracted the likes of film star Demi Moore and former Prime Minister David Cameron. In 2013 it was voted the third best beach bar in the world by travel website Cheapflights.co.uk and last year was named the best pub in the UK for a seaside pint by online booking platform Enjoy Travel.
Brione MacMillan, who ran the pub with her late husband Cliff Webley before handing over control to their son Stuart, said partnering with Harlech Foodservice in the early 1970s – and the availability of electricity to serve food – “changed the face of the business completely”.
That relationship continues to this day, with Harlech Foodservice still supplying the historic pub, which was initially a vicarage built in 1823 before becoming an inn in 1842.
According to Brione, the relationship with Cricieth-based Harlech, which was founded by Colin and Gill Foskett in 1972, had played a vital role in helping the pub to taste such huge success.
She said:
“We have been at Tŷ Coch since 1968 and we went to Harlech Foodservice in 1973 when we got electricity. When we first went to the pub, there was no electricity. We did have water – it was very basic.
“The first year we ran on Tilley lamps and candles, then after we functioned for a year we could afford to buy a very old and very old decrepit generator and that did the lights. Before getting electricity we used to sell pickled eggs, pickled cockles and mussels and the occasional pork pie – we had no refrigeration.
“It was only because we had electricity that we could start selling meals and that was the beginning of the relationship with Harlech Foodservice and their service has always been excellent.”
Brione added:
“It is a glorious location, and it is unique in the fact that you can’t drive to it, you have to walk to it. We have had dozens of famous people over the years, The biggest name was probably Demi Moore who was filming locally. David Cameron rocked up at Easter one year with his family while he was Prime Minister.
“We have had rugby players, footballers, Kyle Walker for example, and Coronation Street stars. Social media has obviously opened us up to a huge amount of people and we are now very much a destination pub.”
Brione has now handed the reins over to Stuart to run the pub but she still does the books and banking. She also has a catering kitchen at her home where she helps prepare food to be served at the pub.
Stuart praised Harlech Foodservice for the service it provides.
He said:
“The relationship with Harlech has been going for a long time and that is because Harlech’s service is fantastic, their delivery drivers are great and very friendly, their reps are friendly and they provide great products.”
Harlech Foodservice Territory Account Manager Chris Carr works closely with Brione and Stuart to ensure their food needs are covered, and paid tribute to how they have continued to successfully run the pub.
He said:
“The location is obviously absolutely terrific but the people at the pub are fantastic too. The pub has a brilliant reputation as a pub for locals too – it is not just a hotspot for tourists and social media influencers. Locals come down and enjoy it, the community in Nefyn is superb and the pub brings it all together.
“To have such a long-standing relationship between Harlech and the pub is absolutely wonderful. We’re very proud that such an iconic pub is probably our longest-standing customer and we’re looking forward to carry on our tasty partnership over the next half century.”
