Whittakers Fish & Chips in Marple, Stockport, has won a luxury weekend in London courtesy of ingredients supplier Keejays.
The takeaway, one of two shops in the area owned by the Demetriou family, is run by second-generation family member and son Pedro Demetriou. It was selected at random from all the customers ordering Goldfish Brand Professional sauce concentrates from wholesaler VA Whitley throughout March and April.
The prize includes a two-night stay at the Tower Hotel and a meal at renowned seafood restaurant Smith’s of Wapping.
Pedro comments: “It’s fantastic to win something. We have two businesses and we’ve been using Goldfish Chinese Curry Sauce for such a long time. Every time we were ordering we were being entered into the competition, so when we were contacted to say we had won we were made up. My dad is going to take the trip to London with my mother while they leave me in the shop to work!”
Whittakers launched nine years ago building on the success of its sister shop, The Dolphin in Reddish, which opened six years previously. Both are family-run and both use Keejays Goldfish Chinese Curry Sauce.
“My father has been using Goldfish Chinese Curry Sauce for as long as he can remember and we have never changed. We feel it has everything. It’s got that slight little kick to it, the colour, the smoothness, it’s everything you want in a curry sauce.”
Having curry sauce ready to go in a bain marie, customers can have it poured directly over their food or served in a pot separately. “We generally sell it more as a side to accompany fish and chips or a portion of chips,” says Pedro. “We sell a lot of half-and-half – curry sauce, chips and rice – that’s very popular.
“I would say curry sauce is certainly one of our most popular sides.”
Enjoying working with his family, Pedro adds: “I’ve been working in the business for seven years and my father has been in the industry for over 25 years. It’s great working with the family. When it gets busy it can get a bit stressful, but when you’ve had a good day everyone is happy and you have each other to share that with. The customers like the fact we are family-run too and that we take pride in what we do.”
While Pedro believes that price pressures have made the industry much tougher than it was 10-15 years ago, he anticipates fish and chip shops will always be busy “as long as they are good at what they do”.
He adds: “You will always have customers returning. Quality products play a big part in that and that’s why we’ve used Goldfish Chinese Curry Sauce for so long: because we have so many returning customers ordering it.”
