Cashing in with Keejays

Demetris Demitriou and his wife Fedra, owners of Whittakers Fish Bar in Maple, Stockport, caught up with Sammy Lee, owner of Keejays, in London earlier this month following their prize win in 2024

Whittakers won a luxury two-night stay in London after it was selected at random from all customers ordering Goldfish Brand Professional sauce concentrates from wholesaler V.A. Whitley throughout March and April 2024.

Explaining how the couple have worked in the family business since 1998 and went on to open their first shop in Liverpool, Demetris says: “When we started out, around 95% of the shops in the area ran a Chinese takeaway alongside fish and chips. We had a Chinese chef and kitchen, which presented its own challenges for staffing when good chefs had holidays, were off ill or moved on to other things.

‘’We decided we wanted a more traditional shop so purchased one closer to Manchester.”

Demetris still wanted to offer an authentic Chinese curry sauce, believing it would be popular in the new area. “For years, we were still using my friends and contacts at Chinese takeaways to make up additional batches of their curry sauce for me and then transporting them to my shop! It was a solution at the time and it was selling very well but not an ideal workaround.’’

They then discovered Goldfish Brand Professional Chinese Curry Sauce. “We were after an authentic flavour that we could make up ourselves and that was consistent,” says Demetris. “We’ve used Goldfish Chinese Curry Sauce now for over 20 years and it’s very popular.”

Although his curry sauce has remained consistent, Demitris, like many other operators, made changes to his business in 2020 when Covid struck. “We got in very early when online ordering and click and collect became the norm at the start of 2020. We decided to create our own app, which is available on Android and iPhone. We worked through some teething problems at the start but it’s been a great tool for us and now we have over 5,000 downloads.”

It was during this time that Demetris looked at other areas of his business where improvements could be made – updating packaging so their product travelled better and adjusting practices. “There was a time when we used to leave the odd bit of potato skin on or small imperfection from the original product,” he explains. “We had noticed that expectations had changed so rumble them for slightly longer and remove all eyes. The chips need to be clean, fry white and be close to perfection visually. We also filter our oil daily to get the best product we can.”

Product quality aside, Demetris says customer relations are key to their business as they serve their local community. “Last month, a woman I recognised locally had placed a family order for food, but when she went to pay she had forgotten her purse. She was clearly a little embarrassed and had her kids with her so I told her to take the order whilst it was hot, and pay next time she was passing. She was genuinely shocked when I said that. She returned five minutes later with the payment. It was a natural thing to do and I’d like to think if I was in that situation, that I’d be treated the same.”