Discover Seafood Drives Uk Cod Price Increase Fight with British Fish

Discover Seafood and the National Federation of Fish Friers launched a uk cod price increase campaign on National Fish & Chip Day to push more shops toward British fish. The effort targets operators leaning on just two imported species and asks them to widen menus before supply-chain volatility bites harder.

70% seafood export gap

70% of the seafood the UK catches is exported, while 80% of what the country eats is imported, Gavin O’Donnell said. He said that leaves real opportunities for UK-caught seafood, especially species that are under-used, affordable and already being sold successfully by some fish and chip shops.

Just two imported species are doing too much of the work in the sector, according to the groups behind the campaign. They say diversifying menus can take pressure off cod and haddock and help shops stay resilient for the long term, with some of the promoted British species available at comparable prices.

Harrison’s in Oxford

Ryan Harrison at Harrison’s in Oxford has already widened the menu, and he said customers respond to the extra choice. “It’s simple really. If people want their local fish and chip shop to survive, they’ve got to be flexible and try new things.”

“We’ve found that giving customers more choices has made them more open-minded,” Harrison said. He added: “As long as it’s quality fish, when it’s battered, it tastes great.”

“And when it comes to domestic species, our customers love that we do something different, that they know where our fish comes from and which boat caught it.”

The Cod’s Scallops rollout

The Cod’s Scallops operates four shops in land-locked Birmingham and serves over 20 species of fish daily from locations including Brixham, Peterhead and Norfolk. John Molnar said the hard part is getting people to choose something other than cod and haddock, but he also said a display counter helps shoppers see what is on offer.

“We have a wet fish counter at our shops where customers can see and learn more about the range of seafood we have on offer,” Molnar said. “This isn’t possible for everyone, but even a small sink with ice and a few local species helps consumers see what they could try – and at a reasonable price.”

He said: “UK tastes and habits are evolving all the time and once you put something different in front of customers, many want to try it – the younger ones in particular.” He pointed to menu items including “Brixham monkfish goujons alongside baked hake and new experiments with seafood-loaded fries.”

O’Donnell said, “This National Fish and Chip Day, we want to celebrate chippies using British fish and start to better understand how the sector more widely can follow their lead.” Andrew Crook, president of the National Federation of Fish Friers, is part of that push as shops are asked to treat the campaign as a menu decision, not a one-day slogan.