FASFA present at the recent Norwegian Inspiration Day
London’s Westminster Kingsway College once again provided the backdrop for this year’s Inspiration Day on Tuesday 12th May, organised by the Norwegian Seafood Council and attended by the winners of The 2026 National Fish & Chip Awards. Menu innovation, clear consumer messaging and telling your story were the themes that came out at this year’s event.
Describing the venue as a fitting location, Bjørn‑Erik Stabell, UK director of the Norwegian Seafood Council, said that, as the UK’s oldest catering institution at 120 years old, it was “the right place to be, where talent is trained and the future is shaped”.
Presentations by Mike Warner, CEO of A Passion 4 Seafood, and Julie Waites, executive director at Frozen at Sea Fillets Association (FASFA), covered sustainability and the net-to-plate journey before tackling the growing amount of misinformation in the media surrounding fishing and the seafood trade. Shops were encouraged to understand supply chains, stock and size availability, quota management, and the wider benefits of frozen-at-sea, in order to convey the right messages to consumers, particularly as fish is a valuable protein for feeding the growing global population. “Over 70% of the earth’s surface is water, but only 2% of the world’s food comes from the sea. That needs to change,” added Bjørn‑Erik.
To encourage operators to think creatively, Simon Hulstone of Michelin-starred restaurant The Elephant in Torquay, Devon, and a Norwegian Seafood Ambassador, was given the green light to “break all the rules” as he demonstrated a number of dishes using frozen at sea saithe, cod and haddock.
First up was poppadom-crusted saithe, which was marinated, brined, coated in panko and crushed poppadoms, and served with mango chutney and curry sauce – a concept everyone agreed tasted incredible and could work as a special or tied in with an event such as National Curry Week. He also created cod marinated in turmeric, wrapped in nori seaweed and served with sriracha mayonnaise, cut to resemble sushi, alongside haddock hot dogs topped with gherkin, samphire, tartare sauce and parmesan, both of which also received glowing remarks.
“It’s taking something you’ve already got at your establishment but adding an upsell,” said Simon. Even if operators did not adopt the concepts in full, the demonstrations encouraged them to think differently, particularly about attracting younger consumers and tapping into the trend for street food – a point reinforced by Tiffany Irvin, owner of The Fish Works in Largs, Ayrshire, winner of Field to Frier, who said: “We already do haddock bao buns and tacos and they work. The younger generation wouldn’t come in to my shop to buy fish and chips, but they come in for these.”
One of the most valuable aspects of the day was the openness with which shops discussed their challenges and the different ways they are responding to them. Unsurprisingly, alternative species remained a major talking point as the cost of cod continues to climb. At the same event last year, many attendees were introduced to Norwegian saithe for the first time and there was clear hesitation about its place on a fish and chip shop menu. Interestingly, conversations with this year’s winners suggested around a third either currently have saithe on the menu or have run it as a special within the last 12 months, reflecting a growing willingness among operators and consumers to try something new.
Some shops still remain committed wholeheartedly to cod and haddock, such as Millers of Haxby in York, where co-owner David Miller, winner of the Outstanding Contribution Award, has recently increased the price of cod by £2.50 to £11.50 and insisted it’s still selling. “Where people aren’t coming in once a week anymore, but once every other week, they want to treat themselves, so will pay the extra,” he said. “My margin on that is about 54%, which is still too low but there is only so much customers are willing to pay. I was hoping people would say “it’s too expensive”, but our cod sales have remained the same. As an operator, you’ve got to be at the top of your game to charge that extra £2.50 though.”
Meanwhile, Sarah Heward, owner of The Real Food Cafe in Tynrdum and winner of the Environment & Sustainable Business Award, said that although she would like to explore alternative species and new concepts, demand at her existing business is already so high that adding anything else was almost impossible. Instead, she has just purchased a van which will be stationed in the car park to serve customers the shop cannot currently accommodate.
A short coach trip took guests to the Norwegian Ambassador’s Residence, where the winners’ efforts were recognised and celebrated in an address by the Norwegian Ambassador Tore Hattrem before a Q&A session featuring The Scrap Box owner Aman Dhesi, winner of Fish & Chip Takeaway of the Year Award, and The Real Food Cafe’s Sarah Heward on using social media to showcase excellence.
Both take very different approaches. Sarah operates a structured content plan run by a full-time marketing manager and supplements scheduled posts herself with more spontaneous updates from the café. Aman, meanwhile, handles social media himself with no formal strategy. Yet both agreed there is no single “right” way, instead the key is finding a compelling way to tell your story.
For Sarah, that means highlighting their location and experience. For Aman, it is about being “everyone’s local”. He admitted it can be difficult to create engagement from “just photos of fish and chips”, but saw far stronger results when sharing the story behind the business, such as visiting Newlyn Fish Market in Cornwall to reintroduce spurdog to the menu.
Aman also encouraged operators to seek out collaborations, adapt ideas that you’ve seen work elsewhere, and invest in targeted Facebook and Instagram promotions to reach untapped audiences. He added: “We identified areas we knew we weren’t getting customers from, put £50 at a time behind our posts and we started getting customers from these areas.”
Both stressed the importance of understanding their audiences and choosing the right platform. Sarah highlighted LinkedIn as a valuable tool, noting that building her personal profile has opened conversations with government officials, grant organisations and other contacts that have supported business growth.
Overall, the day felt like a genuine melting pot of ideas, providing operators with an opportunity to share in their successes while also learn from each other and take ideas back to their shops to help further their businesses. As Bjørn‑Erik said on closing the day: “We are stronger together”.
Written by Fry Magazine www.frymagazine.com