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| The winners of the 2007 Fish & Chip Shop of the Year prove |
that Biggar is batter.
The Townhead Café, in the Scottish Borders town of Biggar, has been crowned the UK’s best fish and chip shop at the finals of the national Fish & Chip Shop of the Year competition.
- Gordon and Sandra Hillan, owners of the chippy, received the gong from celebrity chef, Ainsley Harriott, at the Royal Garden Hotel in London.
- The last time a Scottish champion achieved the national accolade was in 1998.
- Andy’s Fish Bar in Swadlincote, Derbyshire came second in the competition with Seniors in Thornton Cleveleys following closely in third.
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- Gordon Hillan has worked in the fish and chips industry for nearly 30 years, learning the ropes from his dad, a cook in the merchant navy, from the tender age of 16.
- Gordon and his wife Sandra embrace the issue of sustainable sourcing, prominently displaying the source of the seafood they serve throughout the shop.
- To attend the ceremony, the couple had to turn |
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down an invitation from their MP, David Mundell, to tea at the House of Commons. So David joined them instead at the gala lunch to share their big day.
- Gordon and Sandra battered off stiff competition from the nine other UK finalists. After several rounds of judging, including a mystery shopper visit, the outcome was finally decided after a round of presentations to a panel of industry experts. More |
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| A case of sausages FREE to shops that haven't tried them! |
McWhinney's are so confident that when you and your customers sample their Traditional Irish Pork Sausage you will want to put them on your menu. They are offering a no strings attached introductory offer to shops who have not yet tried a McWhinney sausage.
All you have to do is make your request during the month of April 2008 and you can have a case of Bigfoot or Premium 70% Meat Content, or the popular Gold 42% Meat Content.
Simply call Wendy or Jan on 0161 765 3300 and agree to accept delivery of your chosen case through one of McWhinney's designated stockists" |
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| Raise a Glass with Easybags Ltd |
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Chippy Chat goes to the top of the google charts.
Never let it be said that it's hard to find a Chippy on the web.
Chippy Chat is not only on the first page of a google search for the word "Chippy", it's third from the top on that very first page.
A world wide search for the word 'Chippy' places the fryer's favourite web community third in a list of close to a million other search instances.
This can only be good news for the progress our forums. The more the merrier!
Chippy smells of Fish and Chips. Complaint!?
The BBC have reported that a West Yorkshire chip shop owner is being investigated after a complaint that his shop smells of fish and chips. Visit the BBC site for more. |
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To Celebrate Signing a Distribution Agreement with a Major Spanish Wholesaler, EasyBags Ltd are offering a FREE Bottle of Wine to any Fish Friers who would like to try EasyBags Ltd Potliners for themselves.
Telephone 01623 423 423 NOW for your FREE sample - and while EasyBags Ltd Potliners are making your life easier - sit back, relax and enjoy a glass of wine compliments of EasyBags. |
The concept of the
easybags Ltd. potliner
is as simple as 1, 2, 3.
1. you place the Bag in the Pot,
2. you place the Food in the Bag and, at the end of the day's trading,
3. you place the Bag in the Bin - it's as easy as that.
The easybags Ltd. potliner keeps the food moist and prevents the food from drying onto the side of the Pot and, because there isn't any waste - each and every food serving can be used and sold - the easybags Ltd. potliners pay for themselves many times over. Before easybags Ltd. potliners; scrubbing out the Dirty Bain Marie Pots would cost time, money, hot water, electricity, gas, detergents etc, but with easybags Ltd. potliners, simply Cash Up and Go. |
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Antony using EasyBags Ltd Potliners at his shop, The High Street Chippy, Wath-Upon-Dearne
Telephone 01623 423 423 NOW for your FREE samples of EasyBags Ltd Potliners and your complimentary Bottle of Wine. Callers must be over 21 years of Age. |
| Heinz - a sauce of great music! |
Heinz SqueezMe! has taken the market by storm since its launch in 2004 1 . To further boost sales, Heinz Foodservice is giving a share of £237,000 2 of free music downloads to consumers purchasing the innovative pods in a new promotion - The sauce of great music!
1900 promotional kits, each containing 78 entry forms, will be made available to fish and chip shop outlets to enable the creation of eye-catching displays in-store to drive sales of Heinz SqueezMe!
Not only can outlets claim a free kit, available on a first come first serve
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basis, there are also prizes available for outlet owners to incentivise staff - outlets with the most claims made by consumers will receive the prizes.
From the middle of July through to December, the promotion will offer consumers purchasing Heinz SqueezMe! pods free music downloads. To claim their free download, consumers simply collect three snap off tabs from any Heinz SqueezMe! pod 3 and send them off with a completed claim form. The download vouchers will then be emailed to them for redemption at www.wippit.co.uk . |
| For a chance to increase your Heinz SqueezMe! sales and to receive your free kit simply call the Heinz Foodservice helpline on 0800 57 57 55 - remember they are available on a fist come first serve basis. |
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Click on the
picture for a
closer look |
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| Chipping in on the action |
With Fish and Chips featuring in the top 5 meals for every out of home eating occasion and with them still being the number 1 meal for a Friday evening with more than a 20% share of all meals consumed - can you afford not to be offering the best 1 ?
Heinz as a trusted brand by consumers 2 is once again sponsoring the Fish and Chip Shop of the Year Competition, now in its 20th year, with its infamous SqueezMe! brand.
The Heinz SqueezMe! pod, available in Tomato Ketchup, HP Brown Sauce, Mayonnaise, Tartare Sauce, Salad Cream and Barbecue, has taken the fast food sector by storm by selling over 15 million pods since its launch!
The competition, organised by industry body Seafish, rewards the best performing fish and chip shops in the UK - those reaching the highest standards of quality, customer service, innovation and food hygiene. For the first time in the competition's history, this year entrants will also be judged on their commitment to building a sustainable future. |
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"We are keen to support excellence in the industry by encouraging small business owners to innovate through quality, so we are delighted to be a part of The Fish & Chip Shop of the Year competition again this year. Winners of last year's competition, Mark and Pete Petrou, are a shining example of innovation and high quality in the industry and we can't wait to see the entries this year" comments s enior brand manager for Heinz Foodservice Condiments, Claire Vaughan.
"With sauces being a fundamental part of the fish and chip meal it is essential to get it right. By including Heinz sauces, as a trusted brand in the UK, you will give your consumers assurance that they are buying a quality brand whilst improving the perception of your outlet and food offering. Look out for the launch of a bespoke Heinz SqueezMe! Award later this year."
To find out more about Heinz Foodservice sauce range log onto www.heinzfoodservice.co.uk or call the Customer Care line for free on 0800 57 57 55. |
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Climate change could be bad news for chippys.
A study claims that the combination of warmer seas and over-fishing makes a collapse of endangered north Atlantic cod stocks 'extremely likely'.
More from The Observer |
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When the chips are
down... under that is.
New Zealand as a nation, love their fish 'n' chips and have a few imaginative variations on the theme. Click the blue fish to visit The New Zealand Herald, for more..
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Please, don't read this
while your eating!
USA. Rescuers cut through a filtration tank of dense fish feces to reach four workers who fell into the sludgy dung while cleaning the 18-foot tank at a western Massachusetts farm. More from seMissourian.com
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Brain food the elderly.
Two studies in this month's "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition" confirm what chippies suspected already. find fish oil may preserve thinking ability in the elderly.
Macavity is one hep British cat who likes his fish and chips so much that he takes a British bus three times a week to his favorite local bistro.
British newspapers report that the white tomcat, who has one blue eye and one green, boards the busy 331 bus at the same stop in Wolverhampton, 130 miles north of London, and then jumps off at the next one near a fish and chip eatery. |
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Fish and chips help end strike at Wissington
AN offer of on-site fish and chips and cold drinking water prevented a workers dispute from escalating at the new £20m biofuel plant being built at Wissington.
Contractors downed tools at 10am on Monday after complaining about the lack of drinking water, canteen services and eye wash bottles available to them.
Scaffolders, welders, pipe fitters, crane drivers and electricians were among those to go on strike, with around 200 workers walking off site.
The dispute was resolved on Wednesday when workers returned to the British Sugar plant, near Stoke Ferry, following successful talks between representatives from the manufacturing union, Amicus, and site managers. |
| News round up by Catfish, who would also like to bring to chippy chat members attention a post thread of congratulations started by new member "Battered_Sausage". Click the blue fish to join in |
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It's National ChipWeek
12th-18th February |
| Organised by the British Potato Council, this year's 16 th National Chip Week will be held from the 12 th -18 th February. This year's theme is Chips - Treasure the Moment. The series of events planned for the week include: |
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 5 Guiness Book of Record attempts!
New receipes from celebrity chefs.
Lots of press coverage in the newspapers, magazines and TV.
So far 800 chip shops are participating - are you?
There are plenty of benefits to being a part of this campaign. " Shops will be supplied with a point-of -sale kits and scratch cards. Last year 60% of shops reported a significant sales increase during National Chip Week and 45% saw a sales uplift in the weeks following "
Make sure your chippy is involved in this national event.
 For more information, call 020 7351 4900.
Or visit:
 potato.org.uk
viewlondon.co.uk
stackyard.com
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£5 fish and chips
now a reality?
It’s been a bad year for fish and chip shops, it seems. Spiralling costs right across the board |
This news item supplied by  |
- from the fuel oil used by the fishing fleets to the business rates paid by proprietors - have taken their toll on Britain’s favourite takeaway. On top of that, according to the October 2006 figures just released by the Office for National Statistics, the price of fish, has increased in price by 11.1% over the last year, and the generally poor potato harvest - some farmers are reporting a drop in yield of some 20% - has driven prices up by around 12%. Hundreds of fish and chip shops have been forced to increase their prices for the traditional fish supper as higher charges for gas, electricity and cooking oil add to the increased cost of fish and potatoes and put pressure on small outlets. For more on this click the blue fish.
GMTV delves into
the nation's favourite food
In a recent survey over half those polled named fish and chips as their favourite food.
Read the article, click the blue fish
Fabulous Fishy Fact from Saga
We all know that fish is good for us, especially with the recent surge in scientific interest in Omega 3 fatty acids. Just so you can have a few useful facts at your fingertips to share with customers, here are a few of the best and a link to the rest.
Did you know that the polyunsaturated fats from some fish may prevent damage to brain cells as well as keeping your heart healthy?
Eating fish can lower your blood pressure
All the guys out there better check this out - a Swedish study showed a link between eating fish regularly and a reduction in the rate of prostrate cancer.
For more information, click the blue fish
Did you know
...that it was during World War II that fish and chips took their place in the nation's heart and stomachs all thanks to the Minister of Food declaring them as the only food not to be rationed?
Is it all a bit too much? Relax with these chippy games, at
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Fish and Chip Shop of the Year 2006
Here's wishing all the regional winners from 2006 the very best of luck as they go forward into the
UK Championshiplater this month. Click the blue fish to view the list
This event is sponsored by Heinz Squeezme, Seafood Scotland and FASFA.
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Cod is Britain's favourite fish, accounting for up 61.5 per cent of sales.
The number of chippies has soared by a third from 8600 to 11,500 over the last five years, with a turnover of £650million. |
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Fish and chips have a Victorian history - Charles Dickens mentions a fried fish shop in Oliver Twist - but the trade was not established until the 1860s. |
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Every Sunday for eight years, one dedicated fish and chips fan made the 400-mile round trip from London to Harry Ramsden's first shop in Guisely near Leeds. |
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The British love of fish and chips has seen the culinary delight extend its influence across the globe. Fish and chips shops have been spotted in as far flung places as a cliff top in South Africa and the desert in Oman, however unless you have a sweet tooth avoid visiting fish and chip shops in China... they serve it with sugar! |
Fish and chips comes
top of Yellow Pages poll
Fish and chips has been officially recognised as the number one British treasure, according to a poll conducted by the Yellow Pages.
Food and drink came up trumps in the poll, with the treasured British pint of beer and cream tea also making the top 10.
The survey asked 1,000 people what items of national importance they would insure. Routemaster buses, deck chairs and red telephone boxes also all featured. Further details click the blue fish
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98 year old Chip shop woman awarded MBE
Constance Brown arrives in work at 0900BST every morning
A 98-year-old woman who still works at the chip shop she opened with her late husband in the 1920s has been made an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours.Constance Brown has been recognised for services to business and the community of Pembroke in west Wales. And what does she put her active long life down to? A:Eating fish and chips of course.
News from the BBC
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Stand Out &
Increase Your Profit!
The corrugated packaging available now can help improve the image of your shop as well as providing you an excellent means of portion control to protect not only your product but also your profit!
Fish & chip shops produce a fantastic product, but often the problem is that the packaging traditionally used in the industry doesn’t protect fish & chips from deteriorating during the customer’s drive from the fish & chip shop to their home.
An excellent solution to this “journey home problem” comes with corrugated boxes, which also give you the added benefit of offering you the ability to manage your portion control, which directly affects your profits. |
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So what’s in a box? 4 top tips!
1 Excellent presentation of both your shop and your product, with batter and chips staying crisp!
2 Perfect Portion control to help you make a profit!
3 Repeat Business from customers happy at getting home with a perfect product, prompting them to choose to return to your shop over your competitors
4 The opportunity to have your own design and name on your box, giving you a chance to stand out from your competition and lets your customers take your name home with them!
How do you get going? 2 simple steps to start!
1 Talk to your Friars Pride sales representative or telesales contact.
2 Decide whether you would like to have pre-printed or your own design
There are many sizes available so why not consider giving it a go!
Friars Pride stock codes for the pre-printed corrugated boxes.
Chip box
FTFCBC |
Small box
FTFCBS |
Medium box
FTFCBM |
Large box
FTFCBL |
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| Frozen at Sea Fillets - What is happening to the prices? |
We know this is a question you are all asking, so Friars Pride has asked Derek Collinson of Polarfrost what his opinion is the frozen at sea fillets market.
Generally worldwide demand for whitefish is rising due to peoples changing eating habits. This is not surprising as fish is increasingly perceived as low in fat, high in protein and good for you. Many white fish species are far less plentiful due to significant reductions in fishing quotas, for example the New Zealand Hoki quota has been cut by 50% in the past 2 years to safeguard the fish stocks for the future.
Cod, the UK`s favourite fish had been in increasing demand due to changes in the global markets. Many vessels that traditionally produce fillets for the UK market have been producing Headless and Gutted fish ( H+G ) for other markets who, have been willing to pay much higher prices for this raw material with the larger Cod going to Spain and Portugal for the Saltfish market and medium / smaller Cod to China and Asia for reprocessing and re-export. In addition prices for skin less and bone less FAS Cod fillets remain strong in the US market due to continued high demand.
Another major factor effecting market prices are the increased costs in catching fish due to rising oil prices. With this in mind vessels must keep fuel costs to a minimum by targeting areas where they know catch rates will be high. These changing fishing patterns will ultimately lead to changes in fish supplies at certain times of the year and increased market prices. |
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What can we do about it?
In order to stimulate production of FAS fillets and maintain adequate supplies for the UK market in the future, it is essential that we are able to compete with these emerging markets for Cod.
These current higher price levels are here to stay for the foreseeable future and may have to increase further to attract more production, but the UK Fish and Chip market is generally in good shape.
Seafish have identified that there are 11,500 Fish and Chip shops in the UK with a turnover of £1.2 Billion per year. Last year they sold 255 million Fish and Chip meals, which represents an increase of 18 million more meals than the year before ( up 8% ).
Derek Collinson |
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3 Tips from Friars Pride to deal with the rising FAS Cod prices!
1. Be enthusiastic about alternative species of fish with your customers, encourage them to try something new like Hake for example.
2. Consider changing your portion sizes. Try adding a new smaller portion into your menu to help you introduce a means of control for your portion sizes.
3. Increase your prices. A difficult but necessary step that takes into consideration the current market for FAS Cod. |
| Checkout the Chippy Chat FORUM |
| We have set up an array of message boards for members to post on about everything from the history of chippies to new technology and even 'off topic' fun forum games and links. |
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So what is a trade community for...
It can be many things to many people.
For some it's a way of finding out about developements in the industry maybe about hardware that has just come on to the market, or tends that are developing in other parts of the country. |
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For some it's a chance to ask advice from more experienced chippies, for others it's all about the feeling of being a part of a community, having freinds online that you can share funny stories with; freinds that understand what it's like to do what we do. Talk shop or completely escape on the 'off topic' notice board. |
DON’T PEEL AWAY YOUR PROFITS It’s a receipt for disaster! |
Have you ever put your potatoes in the peeler and gone away for a few minutes? Do you know how much you can lose by leaving a potato too long? Friars Pride representatives visited the NFFF and took a lesson in preparation from Drywite’s Phil Webster.
Step 1
We started with 17lbs 14oz of Potatoes. They were taken straight from the sack and it equated to roughly 1/3 of a bag.
Step 2
The potatoes were placed in the peeler and for this exercise we exactly timed them for 1 minute!
DON’T PEEL AWAY YOUR PROFITS.
Step 3
It’s a receipt for disaster!
When the minute was up we removed the potatoes from the peeler and weighed them again. They now weighed 16lb 12oz. |
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Step 4
We looked at our potatoes and at this point they could have been trimmed, but for the purpose of our experiment we put them in the peeler again for a further 30 seconds. We timed them exactly and again removed the potatoes and placed them on the scales. They had now been in the peeler for a total of 1min 30 seconds. The potatoes weight now was recorded as 15lb 7oz
Step 5
Now we trimmed them to get rid of any remaining skin or blemishes when we had finished we placed the potatoes back on the scales. To our surprise they now weighed a mere 14lb 7oz.
From start to finish at this point we had lost 14lb 13oz! 2lb 10oz from our potatoes. What would have happened if them if we hadn’t set the timer?
Step 6
Now we put the potatoes through the chipper and Drywite showed us how to treat the chips in Drywite. You are supposed to soak the chips for 15minutes, however we had so few we only soaked them for 5 minutes. |
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Again we weighed the chips and the final figure was 15lb 4oz.
The potatoes had gone up slightly as they had absorbed some water in process of coating the chips in the Drywite.
FINISH
15lb 4oz If you image a whole bag of potatoes, how many portions of chips or rather how much of your profit do you think you might accidentally be peeling away? You might be advised to stand next to the peeler with a stopwatch in future – if you don’t already!
Come on lads finish the job!
Mr Phil Webster of Drywite hands out the potato peelers to Friars Pride sales representative at a training session held at the NFFF in January sponsored by Drywite. |
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Nigel and Linda Hodgson of Hodgsons Chippy are the proud winners of the Sea Fish, Fish & Chip Shop of the Year
competition 2005. |
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 I n true “fish & chip shop of the year” style as news spreads of Nigel and Linda’s success they can expect their shop to become a top destination for fish & chip connoisseurs as well as good old fish and chip lovers!
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And congratulations to all the regional winners:
• Andrew’s Fish Bar, Welshpool, Regional Winner - North Wales
• Land & Sea Fish & Chips, Polmont Regional Winner – Scotland
• Harlees Fish & Chips, Verwood Regional Winner – South West
England
• Saxon Traditional Fish & Chips, Biggleswade, Hertfordshire Regional Winner – Central & Couth England
• Beedles Chippy, Bishop Aukland Regional Winner – North East England
• The Pit Stop, Kilkeel Regional Winner – Northern Ireland
Friars Pride would like to send out a note of special congratulations to Paul & Pat Linford of Linford’s Traditional Fish & Chips, Market Deeping. Linford’s secured the title of Regional Winner – Eastern England for a third year! Paul Linford has guided his team to regional success in the East of England category for 3 consecutive years!
This is an astounding achievement! |
Fun Fishy Facts...
The blue whale is the largest animal on earth. The heart of a blue whale is as big as a car, and it's tongue is as long as an elephant.
The Swell Shark, found in New Zealand, barks like a dog.
Fishes cannot live in the Dead Sea because the water has too much salt in it?
Did you know that there is a sort of crab, which can climb trees?
It is called the coconut crab, because it eats coconuts, which it finds by climbing the palm trees where the nuts grow.
The heaviest fish ever caught was the OCEAN SUNFISH. It weighed 4,928 lbs.
The swordtail is the fastest swimmer of all the fish.
Cockle shells come in various sizes, but have you ever wondered how they grow? As it gets older the cockle just adds another layer to its outer shell. To work out their age you can count the rings on them just like a tree.
The stickleback is one of the few fishes that builds a nest. The male, in his red breeding colors, makes a nest of weeds where the female lays her eggs. Then the male stays by the nest to guard the eggs until they hatch.
Weird things have been found inside a shark, such as a nail, a bottle of wine, a treasure chest, coats, a suit of armor, a drum and a torpedo.
Checkout this picture of a fish with two bodies and one head
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