Sept 2012 - Issue 6 - National Federation of Fish Friers

THE fish friers REVIEW
May The Best
Shop Win
By Andy Gray, Marketing and Promotion, Seafish
It has certainly been a summer of edge-ofthe-seat
sporting competition and
excellence with the European Football
Championships, Andy Murray's 'near
victory' at Wimbledon, his subsequent
medal glory at the London Olympics,
indeed, medals galore for the UK for all
manner of sporting disciplines. Whilst not
necessarily of a sporting nature, although
nevertheless involving hard fought competition, the next eagerly awaited
set of results here in the UK, are the details of those successful fish and
chip shops that have progressed through from round one in the
Independent Takeaway Fish and Chip Shop of the Year Award category
as part of the 2013 National Fish and Chip Awards (see page 8).
Indeed, the waiting and anticipation is now over, and as with expectant
school and university students awaiting the summer delivery of their
exam results, entrants in this category of the 2013 Awards will have
heard the gentle thud of a
manila envelope on their
doormats recently, breaking
the news of whether they will
have progressed to the next
round of this year's
competition.
While the Olympics is all
about the magic of gold - cue
the musical strains of
Spandau Ballet - this year's
National Fish & Chip Awards
are all about sensational
silver, with the awards
reaching an important
milestone and celebrating
their prestigious silver
anniversary.
This year's National Fish
& Chip Awards are all
about sensational silver,
with the awards reaching
an important milestone
and celebrating their
prestigious silver anniversary
““
The awards recognise and reward businesses producing the very best of
the nation's beloved fish and chips across the UK, and there are a total of
twelve different award categories available to enter. The Independent
Takeaway Fish and Chip Shop of the Year Award category, remains the
blue ribbon accolade of the awards; the 100m sprint of the fish and chips
world! And while there are no actual gold, silver or bronze medals, or
even big money prizes, for winners, the kudos and recognition from
being judged one of the best fish and chip businesses in the UK can be
the commercial equivalent to becoming an Olympic or world champion!
The impact on successful businesses can be enormous, with many
previous award winners seeing their sales increase by up to 100% within
Issue 6 September 2012
a short period of winning.
This year's National Fish & Chip Awards are all
about sensational silver, with the awards
reaching an important milestone and
celebrating their prestigious silver
anniversary.
In the coming weeks a team of industry
judges will be travelling to all points of the
compass as they undertake mystery visits to the Top 50 independent
takeaway fish and chip shops in the UK, in their quest to narrow this
listing down to a top 10; each of the ten being judged to be the best in
their respective geographical region of the UK - a mighty honour, and a
passport to the national final with the chance to be crowned the best in
the country.
Making unannounced visits to shops, judges will be putting participants
through the ringer as they appraise businesses on criteria ranging from
sustainable sourcing
practices, customer service,
hygiene and staff training,
and most importantly, the
quality of fish and chips.
The development of the
awards is overseen by an
Industry Steering Group
comprising representation
from the National Federation
of Fish Friers (NFFF), the
National Edible Oils
Distributors Association
(NEODA), past national
award winners, equipment
suppliers and trade media.
The awards give a fantastic
platform for media activity
and PR opportunities for both individual entrants and the fish and chip
sector as a whole, and also provide a great benchmark for raising quality
standards in the fish and chip sector.
So as they excitement of recent Olympic Games slowly dissipates, the
excitement of competition in the world of fish and chips starts to hot up. For
those about to be further judged over the coming weeks, we salute you.
Let battle commence!
For further details of the awards and results please visit
www.fishandchipawards.com/news
23