When Natalia Zozulya took over The Dolphin Cafe on the Fish Market in Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, two and half years ago she knew she wanted to grow the business by improving the menu, offering more choice and serving better quality products.
One of the first things she did was switch from the shop’s current scampi to fresh langoustine tails from local seafood supplier Amity Fish Company, which staff batter and fry to order. They have proved so popular that Natalia has since added them to the menu at The Fish Book, a second takeaway she opened recently also in Peterhead.
The Fish Book sells eight pieces of scampi to a portion and serves them with salad and coleslaw for £9 or with the addition of chips for £11.20. At The Dolphin Cafe, Natalia also offers a seafood platter that includes scampi, fish goujons, a fishcake and scallops. “We also get large groups ordering a portion of Amity Scampi to share, just because they want to try it,” she adds.
“The Amity langoustine tails are a really high quality product and because of that they have become a popular item on the menu. It’s a premium option but we’ve gone from selling one 1kg case a week to selling five cases a week – and that’s just in one shop. From the minute we put it on the menu, customers kept asking, asking, asking for it.”
With Amity and the two chip shops virtually neighbours, Natalia ensures the scampi is promoted by name on the menu, adding: “Customers who are from Peterhead tend to know about Amity Scampi because the company has a great reputation locally for its premium quality Scottish seafood. Our customers that come from a little bit further don’t always know so we tell them it’s a great quality local product that’s delivered fresh to us from the market.”
The locality also helps with any last minute rushes, with Natalia adding: “Last week we ran out of scampi on a Sunday and they delivered it to us in half an hour because we are just around the corner. I couldn’t have asked for more.”
Amity Fish Company 01779 474609 www.amityfish.co.uk
Recent Posts
- Frymax announces Fry to the Max prize draw winners
- National Fish & Chip Day campaign evaluation is in – and it looks impressive!
- Deliveries and takeaways back to growth in May as damp weather keeps people at home
- Hospitality left out of government’s plan to cut energy prices
- Rockfish opens its latest site in Salcombe, Devon
