Discover Seafood and the National Federation of Fish Friers used National Fish and Chip Day to launch a new push for British fish, urging chippies to move beyond the two imported species that still dominate many menus. Their message was blunt: the sector needs more domestic fish on the counter if it is to stay resilient, absorb supply shocks and keep trading for the long term.
The timing explains why the campaign landed now. Fish and chip shops are facing fresh pressure from the cost and availability of the staples they know best, and the uk cod price increase has made the old menu formula feel less safe for operators looking ahead. The collaboration is meant to show that there are workable alternatives already available, not an experiment for later.
The groups are promoting UK-caught species including hake, coley, monkfish, rock salmon and seabass, and they say some are available at prices comparable with traditional choices. Gavin O’Donnell said the UK exports 70% of the seafood it catches and imports 80% of what it eats, arguing that this leaves real room for more British seafood to be sold at home.
One shop they point to is Harrison’s in Oxford, where Ryan Harrison said offering more choice has changed the way customers think. He said people like that the shop does something different and know where the fish comes from and which boat caught it. His view is that flexibility helps a local fish and chip shop survive, and that quality fish battered well can win over customers even when it is not the usual cod or haddock.
That is the friction inside the campaign. The pitch is that British fish is an opportunity, but opportunity does not mean instant change. Some of the species being promoted are still competing with the familiar options many customers continue to prefer, which is why the industry is being told not just to stock them but to put them in front of people in ways that make them easy to try.
John Molnar is already doing that at The Cod’s Scallops, which runs four shops in land-locked Birmingham and serves more than 20 species of fish a day from places including Brixham, Peterhead and Norfolk. He said the challenge is getting customers to order something other than cod and haddock, and added that a wet fish counter helps people learn what is on offer. His business has tried Brixham monkfish goujons, baked hake and seafood-loaded fries, a sign that the menu shift the campaign wants is already under way in parts of the market.
For now, the collaboration has drawn a map rather than set a deadline. It points to a sector that can broaden its offer, but the real test is whether enough shops follow Harrison’s and Molnar’s lead to make British fish a routine choice rather than a special one.
