Discover Seafood and NFFF join forces to encourage more shops to buy British fish

A new industry collaboration launches today, to coincide with National Fish & Chip Day, exploring how more operators in the fish and chip sector can embrace the opportunities offered by domestically caught fish.

Discover Seafood, part of Fishmongers’ Company’s Fisheries Charitable Trust, and the National Federation of Fish Friers say that running a business reliant on just two imported species is becoming increasingly challenging. They argue that it is vital for the sector to diversify and add new species to menus to avoid supply chain volatility, stay resilient, take the pressure off cod and haddock and remain open for the long term.

They have come together to champion the best of “Britfish” through menu expansion, arguing that adding more UK-caught species such as hake, coley, monkfish, rock salmon and seabass, alongside frozen at sea imports, can help shops future-proof their businesses. It says this approach can familiarise consumers with alternatives to traditional choices – some available at comparable prices – combating global supply chain fragility and creating more market opportunities for domestic species at home.

As part of the campaign they are highlighting shops that have successfully taken this approach, such Harrison’s in Oxford, run by owner Ryan Harrison. He said. “It’s simple really. If people want their local fish and chip shop to survive, they’ve got to be flexible and try new things. We’ve found that giving customers more choices has made them more open-minded. As long as it’s quality fish, when it’s battered, it tastes great. And when it comes to domestic species, our customers love that we do something different, that they know where our fish comes from and which boat caught it.”

John Molnar, owner of The Cod’s Scallops, which operates four shops in land-locked Birmingham, is also behind the initiative. As an experienced chef, he wants to counter the lack of menu diversity in the trade, whilst also supporting UK fishermen. He serves over 20 species of fish daily sourced from locations including Brixham, Peterhead and Norfolk, but acknowledges that the challenge is to get customers to try something other than cod and haddock. 

“We have a wet fish counter at our shops where customers can see and learn more about the range of seafood we have on offer. This isn’t possible for everyone, but even a small sink with ice and a few local species helps consumers see what they could try – and at a reasonable price. UK tastes and habits are evolving all the time and once you put something different in front of customers, many want to try it – the younger ones in particular. Britfish for us has included Brixham monkfish goujons alongside baked hake and new experiments with seafood-loaded fries.”

Commenting on the collaboration, Gavin O’Donnell, a spokesperson from Discover Seafood, explained: “In the UK, we export 70% of the seafood we catch and import 80% of what we eat. Yet we have a national food strategy focused on raising the profile of British-grown and produced food, more resilient food systems and better environmental outcomes. So there are real opportunities for UK-caught seafood – with many under-utilised, affordable and tasty species that fish and chip shops like Harrison’s and The Cod’s Scallops are already successfully selling. This National Fish and Chip Day, we want to celebrate chippies using British fish and start to better understand how the sector more widely can follow their lead.”

Andrew Crook, president of the NFFF, added:“This collaboration is really important. What Ryan and John and others are doing is great – they’ve proved there is a real commercial opportunity there. We will certainly always need imported fish, but the domestic catch can help us navigate current challenges in supply and benefit not just fish and chip shop owners but UK fishermen and coastal communities too.”