The 2020 National Fish and Chip Award are open for entries!
Article Date: 2019-05-01
WHY ENTER THE AWARDS?
Celebrating the great tradition of fish and chips, the annual National Fish & Chip Awards showcase the best talent, quality and choice offered by fish and chip businesses across the UK. Rewarding excellence, the awards also put successful businesses on the map, via regional and national media coverage. Now entering their 32nd successful year, and recognised as one of the most prominent and respected seafood industry events in the UK, the awards have come to be regarded as the ‘Oscars’ of the fish and chips world.
Established in 1988, the awards, overseen by Seafish, continue to support the wider fish and chip industry by:
- Rewarding individual excellence in a range of different award categories.
- Playing a role in raising quality standards and providing a benchmark for all fish and chip businesses to aspire to.
- Entering the awards can also add excitement in motivating staff to be the best.
- Providing a robust platform from which to undertake a wide variety of media activity promoting the fish and chip sector and its many diverse facets, and to encourage the continued consumption of fish and chips amongst both the UK population and visitors to the country.
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Entering the awards is easy and the accolade of being judged one of the best fish and chip businesses in the UK can have an enormous positive impact on business.
Media activity undertaken by Seafish in relation to the awards generates fantastic publicity for both participating businesses and the wider fish and chip sector.
Across the award categories, various judging rounds culminate at a prestigious awards ceremony in London in January where all the award winners are announced.
BOOST TO BUSINESS
The accolade of being shortlisted in the awards can have an enormous impact on business – previous Regional winners’ of the flagship Fish and Chip Shop of the Year Award category have seen their turnover increase by up to 50% and some past National winners have seen their turnover increase by as much as 100%!
However, at every stage of the awards there are fantastic local PR and marketing opportunities for businesses just by being part of the awards. One of the main benefits of participation is the valuable performance feedback report that is supplied post-judging, providing often very valuable impartial insight to a shop’s operations – a process that if undertaken with a commercial mystery dining company could cost shop owners in the region of £100. Just one of the many benefits to be derived from being a part of the annual National Fish & Chip Awards.
TRAVEL AND LEARN
In a number of award categories, shortlisted businesses also have the opportunity to join various all-expense-paid industry study trip visits, providing the opportunity to learn more about where our seafood comes from. Previous visits have included trips to destinations including Norway and north east Scotland.
NEW FOR 2019
In addition to a simplified and streamlined online entry process, the 2020 awards program welcomes a new award category – the Seasonal UK Seafood Award.
Sponsored by the Scottish Seafood Association www.scottishseafoodassociation.com and the Scottish White Fish Producers Association https://swfpa.com, this award category will recognise and reward fish and chip businesses for their knowledge, use and promotion of the abundance of fresh seasonal fish and shellfish species from UK coastal waters. It will take into account judging criteria including sustainability, responsible sourcing, traceability and best practice with regards to the sourcing and use of seasonal UK fish and shellfish.
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AWARD CATEGORIES
The National Fish & Chip Awards encompass a variety of different award categories:
| Fish and Chip Shop of the Year Award | Open to all independent fish and chip businesses with a takeaway facility. |
| Fish and Chip Restaurant of the Year Award | Open to all independent fish and chip restaurants. |
| Best Mobile Fish and Chip Operator Award | Open to operators of mobile fish and chip businesses. |
| Best Multiple Fish and Chip Operator Award | Open to fish and chip operators with three or more outlets including franchises. |
| Best Newcomer Award | Open to owners of fish and chip shop/restaurant businesses that are new to the industry and who have been in control of their respective business since no earlier than 1 May 2018. |
| Staff Training and Development Award | Open to all fish and chip businesses. |
| Best Foodservice Operator Award | Open to all foodservice operators that serve fish and chips but where fish and chips is not their core offering – such as pubs, cafes, department stores, hotels, travel and leisure outlets. |
| From Field to Frier Award | Open to all fish and chip businesses and rewarding knowledge and promotion of responsible sourcing and sustainability practices regarding potatoes and chips. |
| Drywite Young Fish Frier of the Year Award | Open to all applicants who are aged 25 years or younger as of 31 December 2019. |
| Marketing Innovation Award | Open to all fish and chip businesses. |
| Good Catch – The Sustainability Award | Open to all fish and chip businesses and rewarding knowledge and promotion of responsible seafood sourcing and sustainability practices. |
| Menu Development and Innovation Award | Rewarding businesses that are excelling in educating and informing customers on dietary and healthy eating choices and also the nutritional values of fish and chips. |
| NFFF Quality Award ‘Champion Award’ | Open to all current National Federation of Fish Friers Quality Award holders. |
| Best Seafood Week Campaign Award | Open to entry from all fish and chip businesses who participate in Seafood Week 2019 (4-11 October). |
| Seasonal UK Seafood Award | Recognising and rewarding fish and chip businesses for their knowledge, use and promotion of the abundance of fresh seasonal fish and shellfish species from UK coastal waters. |
HOW TO ENTER
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The awards are free to enter. To find out more and to enter visit www.seafish.org/article/about-the-awards or for further information e-mail awardsenquiry@seafish.co.uk
You can also keep up to date with all the latest awards news via
https://twitter.com/FishnChipAwards.
The 2020 awards open for entry on 1 May 2019 – and entries can be submitted at https://fishandchips.awardsplatform.com
CLOSING DATES FOR SUBMISSION OF ENTRIES
The respective closing dates for the submission of completed entries to the various different award categories are:
| Categories | Closing Dates |
| Fish and Chip Shop of the Year Award | 30 June 2019 |
| Drywite Young Fish Frier of the Year Award | 30 June 2019 |
| Best Multiple Fish and Chip Operator Award | 30 June 2019 |
| Fish and Chip Restaurant of the Year Award | 31 July 2019 |
| Best Mobile Fish and Chip Operator Award | 31 July 2019 |
| Good Catch - The Sustainability Award | 31 July 2019 |
| Best Newcomer Award | 31 July 2019 |
| Seasonal UK Seafood Award | 31 July 2019 |
| Staff Training and Development Award | 31 August 2019 |
| Menu Development and Innovation Award | 31 August 2019 |
| Marketing Innovation Award | 31 August 2019 |
| Best Foodservice Operator Award | 30 September 2019 |
| From Field to Frier Award | 30 September 2019 |
| NFFF Quality Award ‘Champion Award’ | 30 September 2019 |
| Best Seafood Week Campaign Award | 31 October 2019 |
ENTER AND WIN
All businesses entering the awards by 31 July 2019 will also be entered into a free prize draw to win a trip to London – to visit Billingsgate Fish Market and attend a masterclass course at the Billingsgate Seafood Training Course. The chance to enjoy some great seafood and see the sights of London! This prize trip will include travel, accommodation, course attendance fees and all related travel expenses for two people.
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