The owner of a Shropshire fish and chip shop has said “every little helps” after winning 10 boxes of P100 premium palm oil worth over £200.
Harry Haralambous, who has run Salop Fish Bar in Oswestry for the past 25 years, recently won the prize in a social media competition. Reflecting on his unexpected win, he said: “It’s fantastic. I couldn’t believe it. Every time the competition popped up on my feed, I entered, but you never really expect to win.”
The win is welcome news for Harry who has been battling rising commodity prices for the last two years. “Every little helps,” he says. “Ten boxes of P100 will last me a good week and a bit.”
Harry has been forced to implement several cost-cutting measures in his business, including reducing the number of fridges and freezers, lowering stock levels and discontinuing the sale of ice cream. However, despite these changes, he has remained loyal to P100, which he has fried in for 20 years, choosing not to switch from the product even in challenging times.
“P100 has always been very consistent and lasts well,” he says. “It doesn’t break down quite as quickly as some of the cheaper brands and my customers are all happy with it. It is one of the key ingredients, it contributes quite a bit to the taste. It’s something I would never compromise on.”
Harry last raised his prices in April. With the market now starting to stabilise and with his recent win, he hopes to keep his prices unchanged moving forward.
“I think we have turned a corner,” he says. “We’ve got over Covid and are getting there with the cost of living crisis. It’s just trying to keep prices down because they went so high that a lot of people can’t afford fish and chips anymore. I definitely see customers that were in a lot more frequently only able to afford to come out once a week.”
Harry has introduced measures to encourage customers in, including lunchtime specials and allowing diners to eat in the restaurant at takeaway prices.
The P100 win is Salop Fish Bar’s second in as many months, with Harry scooping 50 tennis balls in a competition run by his local tennis club. “That was unexpected too so we thought, right, we’ll include them as a prize in our kids’ meals during Wimbledon and encourage kids to play tennis.”
This is the second time P100 has given away 10 boxes of frying fat, with Rest Bay in Porthcawl being the winner in March. In addition, P100 has put up two oil filtering machines as prizes. Tony’s Fish & Chips in Ryde, Isle of Wight, won a Merlin Maestro filter machine in August, while Sea Breeze Restaurant in Swanage, Dorset, took home an Aries 3 filter machine in December 2023.
