Frozen cod and haddock fillets are used by 98% of the UK’s Fish & Chip shops, within the wider catering industry and increasingly in retail supermarkets. The facts are that more than 382 million fish and chip shop meals (featuring fish) are consumed every year, the traditional dish of fish and chips is still top of the league of the UK’s favourite takeaway foods
The benefits of frozen at sea fillets include:
- Consistent high quality of taste
- Caught in well managed waters of Iceland and the Barents Sea
- Filleted and frozen within five hours of being caught
- FAS fillets are ‘Fresher’ than variable ‘Fresh’
- Available in IQF (Individually Quick Frozen) form for convenience
- Wild caught – not farmed
- Species – cod and haddock
- Presentation – skin on, skinless and skinless boneless
- Blind taste tests 12 out of 14 chose FAS
- No Smell
- Minimal wastage
- Superior quality to ‘double frozen imports’ and ‘farmed fish imports’
- Not subject to availability due to adverse weather conditions
- Prices are more consistent than ‘Fresh’
- No additives
Fasfa, with help from Seafish, has produced a Fact Sheet of useful information for Fish & Chip shop owners and their staff, explaining the features and benefits of FAS fillets, and how best to handle them in day to day use. We hope to be able to distribute printed copies to shops in 2012, but if you’d like a preliminary copy, please download the file through this link Fact Sheet pdf
Fasfa has sponsored the national Fish and Chip Shop of the Year competition for the past ten years. The competition is organised by the industry body Seafish and celebrates the best quality within the industry.
Thousands of entries are shortlisted to ten regional finalists and judged by industry representatives including previous winners, writers and members of organisations such as the National Federation of Fish Friers, the British Potato Council and Seafish. The competition celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2008.
The regional finalists face strict judging criteria. Each fish and chip shop is judged on cleanliness, customer service and quality of product as well as a commitment to ensuring a sustainable future for the industry by sourcing fish from well-managed stocks.
Every year of the competition at least nine out of the ten finalists use frozen at sea filleted fish.