A St Andrews cafe is mulling over a 50p ‘seagull insurance’ charge due to the escalating number of customers having their food pinched.
The owners of the Cheesy Toast Shack say they give free replacements to as many as 30 customers a day due to gulls swooping in and stealing their food.
This costs the East Sands business around £200 a day.
So Shack owners Sam Larg and Kate Carter-Larg may soon charge an additional 50p per order to cover these costs.
“We have not launched it yet but it is in the pipeline,” Sam said.
“We want to add 50p on the bill as seagull insurance.
“If there is a difference between the amount we get and the cost of the food we give away we will put that cash aside and either give it to charity or do something for the local community.”
St Andrews cafe has ‘bird of prey’ to stop gulls
Sam says the cafe has done “everything in our power” to deter the flying thieves.
“We have a commercial bird scarer that farmers have,” he said.
“It’s like a kite but a big bird of prey.”
But there is no sign of the attacks abating.
“On a busy summer’s day there can be 30 seagull attacks a day,” Kate said.
“Yesterday a little girl had her bacon roll stolen.
“Her family didn’t want to come over and say something but I saw it happen and the little girl was crying so I went over and replaced it.
“I feel bad because we know we’re not cheap but people are still choosing to spend their disposable income with us.
“A standard toastie is £6.75 and an ice cream is £2.50, but it could even be a milkshake that gets stolen.
“I am my own worst enemy because I give them another one for free.
“But if we charge 50p insurance it is not totally on us and also people aren’t having to pay the full whack to replace it.”
Cheesy Toast Shack losing ‘£200 a day’ in replacing food stolen by birds
Though the problem is widespread in St Andrews, Kate says Shack customers are a particular target for hungry gulls.
“We have a good Instagram following,” she said.
“So some people like to sit on the bench holding up their toastie for a picture and tag themselves in it.
“This gives the seagulls an opportunity.”
Sam added: “We have two children, aged six and three.
“They don’t want to sit out and eat their food outside if they’re going to get swooped by birds.
“It’s becoming a nuisance.
“It costs us more than £200 on an average day.
“Over a year this can be as much as £5,000 that we are losing in sales.
“A charge where anything left over is put into the local community would turn a negative into a positive.”
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