Swanage chippy wins P100 prize

Sea Breeze Restaurant in Swanage, Dorset, has won an Aries 3 filter machine in a competition run by premium palm oil brand P100.

The beach-side takeaway and 30-seater restaurant scooped the prize worth over £2,500 after entering the competition on social media only once, despite there being six chances to win. 

James Wright, who has run the chippy with his wife Christina for the past 14 years, comments: “It’s amazing. I couldn’t believe it when I got the call to say we had won, and I still didn’t believe it until I saw the video.”

“It was my wife that entered, I didn’t even know she had. She only entered once.”

James, who currently hand filters his vegetable oil into buckets every morning, has often considered purchasing an oil filtration machine but, with the rising costs of raw materials over the past 12 months, it’s a decision he has put off.

“The costs of everything being so high at the moment is making life hard,” he says. “We’re going to every supplier and trying to get the best deals that we can. The oil has come down a bit now, which is good, but I can’t wait to give the filter machine a go. It’s going to be great because it will save on the oil, make our product taste a lot better, and it’s going to be so much easier than how we filter it at the moment.”

Heavily dependent on repeat tourist trade during the summer, Sea Breeze remains closed for much of the winter. “Our trade is all or nothing; we go from being closed to absolutely crazy,” says James. 

Asked what keeps holidaymakers returning year-on-year, James adds: “People come to us because we try and put out the best product we can with good customer service.”

Stephen Bickmore, commercial manager at P100, comments: “Sea Breeze is a worthy winner and we can’t wait for the busy summer months when this prize will make a real difference to its oil management. Investing in a quality oil is key to producing great tasting fish and chips that customers keep returning for – as is looking after it.”

P100 launched the competition in October in a bid to step up its marketing activities as it aims to increase market share and attract new users looking to upgrade to a premium quality yet cost-effective palm oil. Friers had six opportunities to enter by ‘liking’ and commenting on six weekly social media posts. Each comment was an entry, with the winner picked at random from all those that entered.