Fish and chips - A great British tradition

THE typical retail fish frying shop run by its owners, usually husband and wife and with part-time help, represents a continuing tradition which goes back in Great Britain to the early days of the 19th century. Charles Dickens, in his novel Oliver Twist, mentions a fried fish warehouse, but it was not until the 1860s that the trade began to develop as we know it now.

Through the latter part of the 19th century and well into the present century, the trade expanded greatly to satisfy the needs of the growing industrial population of Great Britain. The development of the steam trawler brought to these shores fish from all over the North Atlantic, the water round Iceland and Greenland and off the North Cape of Norway.

The intricate network of railways established in the United Kingdom helped to concentrate the development of the catching side of the industry at major ports such as Grimsby. Fleetwood, (lull and Aberdeen, but met(, importantly allowed the rapid distribution of fish to every part of the United Kingdom. Fish landed at Grimsby one day would be on sale in the most distant parts of the country early the following morning.

However, as can be expected the fried fish trade's greatest development was in the industrial cities of Scotland, the North of England and Midlands as well as London. W i t h t h e spread of paid holidays the fried fish trade's customers, when on holiday, still demanded the product with which they had become familiar at home. A characteristic feature of most popular English holiday resorts are the fried fish shops, cafes and restaurants, something which has now spread to the Mediterranean coast of Spain and other overseas resorts.

It was not only the easy availability of fish and chips which contributed to the development of the trade. From the very beginning fish and chipped potatoes have been recognised by the great mass of the British population as providing a nourishing meal offering good value for money. Even today, with many competitive products being offered in the take-away and fast food trades, the traditional British fish and chip shop is still the leader in this particular field.

We have already said something of the unique place the fish frying trade has in Great Britain. Although friers operate specialist fish catering businesses these, with some exceptions of course, cannot be thought of as up market seafood businesses. The range of products offered is limited - cod, haddock, plaice with, in the Southern part of England, skate, hake and dogfish being additional items.

It is true that there has been considerable diversification by the trade into other products - pies, chicken and hamburgers etc. This movement is limited by the necessity to retain a competitive price structure. To extend its product range too far will inevitably destroy that feature of its trading which has always been its strength.

By concentrating on a relatively narrow range of products, the advantages of buying raw materials in relatively large quantities, processing in quantity and offering its products to the public on a ready-cooked basis, have enabled this trade to continue its tradition of supplying to the British public the cheapest cooked meal in the country.

The National Federation of Fish Friers was founded in 1913 to watch over the interests of its members' specialist trade. Today, over 80 years later, it is the largest organisation representing the largest take-away food trade in the country. 9,000 fried fish shops having an annual turnover of over £650M sell 60,000 tonnes of fish (abut one-quarter of all the white fish consumed in the UK) and 500,000 tonnes of potatoes (over 10% of all potatoes eaten by British people). It is, therefore, important that the trade is properly represented to government, growers and the fishing industry to ensure continuity of supplies and the continuing prosperity of the trade. The NFFF has successfully carried out these tasks for many years and looks far the support of all the trade to enable it to continue serving all who supply the British public with its traditional fare.

Goto Top