THERE’S MORE COMPETITION THAN YOU THINK.
Posted by Stelios Theocharous March 1, 2010 - 8:06 am
Written for Fish & Chips & Fast Food Magazine, March 2010 Issue
In the last issue I touched on competition and how it is not just fish and chip shops we should be concerned about, but other food options in general rather than fish and chip shops all the time. If we look at the big picture we have to now compete nationally but also, at the same time, locally.
So let’s face it we need to realise there is direct competition within our industry. I hear every day that there are new fish and chip shops opening next to established shops every day, but this is the way life is – we have to just get used to it.
To take a quote from someone I recently spoke to: “Who said there is a god given right to no competition?”
And you seriously have to consider, if there was no competition within the trade what would fish and chips still be like? You could imagine how shops would never be stylish, they would be old fashioned with old ranges. As operators you have admit that competition is one of the reasons that makes you want to keep your shop looking trim and clean, do refits and buy the latest preparation and frying gizmos and other technology, including the modern ranges on offer today.
I know that a lot of people in the trade don’t agree with me and my ideas about competition in the industry, but that’s life. I don’t really write this for people’s approval, but to get people thinking! I know there are some shops that really get along with competitors’ shops in their area, however this is not the case everywhere.
Last month I thought I would rattle a few cages, however I had a few text messages of support which does not usually happen! Usually people avoid conversation with me when it comes to my articles. I don’t really have the history of many others, I don’t have the flair of that posh Fen person, but I like to show a different side to the industry.
Yes, it may be a little negative from time to time, but that’s life, the balance needs to be restored. I really think competition is good and healthy for business, and after all it’s better for our customers.
So the flipside is that after you get over the fact that you have competition within the industry, how will you rise to the challenge? Or will you just sit there and take it and have the odd grumble? Maybe then it will dawn on you that the food sector is huge and everyone wants a piece of the action when it comes to fish and chips, and that’s NOT just other fish and chip shops!
I have seen so far the following companies doing fish and chips:
• Tesco store restaurant
• Asda store restaurant
• Frankie & Bennies
• Beefeater Restaurants
• Pubs
• Gordon Ramsay Pubs
• Marks & Spencer Ready Meal
• Youngs Ready Meal
Isn’t it strange how the nation’s favourite is being imitated by so many different companies, some better and some worse than our offering? Some people will say that you cannot beat fish and chips from a chippie, but customers are still buying from elsewhere, whether we like it or lump it.
So there we have the imitators copying our great national dish, which is bad enough, but what of those “all you can eat” offerings? There is a new (or at least, new to me) company called Taybarns which is owned by the Whitbread group. They do a staggering “all you can eat” selection of grilled foods, salad, pasta, chip shop, the spice rack, carvery…the list is endless and all for £5.99 – all you can eat.
This is their chip shop menu:
• Chips (of course!)
• Battered fish
• Fish cake
• Minced beef & onion pie
• Saveloy sausage
• Plain roast chicken
• Mushy peas
• Curry sauce
Could you serve this in your fish shop for as little as £5.99, and let customers keep coming back for more?
I could not tell you about the quality of the food, I have not eaten there. (If anyone has and can pass a judgement on the quality of the food, do let Wendy know).
All I can say is be ready.
Fish and chips is now not a specialist product. Believe it or not, it has been simplified. There are multiple ways being used to cook them, with chips being par fried and fish either being fried or oven cooked. Frying ranges now lift chips when they are ready and the timer has finished. The timer also lets you know when fish is ready. Frozen fish comes portioned and with a consistent thickness. I expect to start seeing fish and chips growing faster and faster outside the traditional fish and chip shop.
Ask yourself this – how are our customers going to separate the cream from the milk?
Answers on a postcard, or preferably to the Editor!
Happy New Year
Posted by Stelios Theocharous December 31, 2009 - 6:15 pm
To all our customers,
We would love to wish you a Happy New Year, We hope 2010 will be an amazing year for you.
Stelios Theocharous
The Batter Company
CHIPS & THINGS IN DONCASTER
Posted by Stelios Theocharous December 11, 2009 - 4:18 pm
Shop: Chips & Things
Name: Neil Marshall
Range: Mallinson
Frying Medium: Frymax
Location: Thorne, Doncaster
How long have you been at this shop?
15 yrs
What is your favourite piece of equipment in the shop and why
Mallinsons 3 pan fish range as its so fast and so easy to use.
Tell us a little about yourself and how you found yourself in this job?
I’m a 37 year old self taught fish fryer originally from Mablethorpe. I have family in Thorne and decided on a change and the perfect opportunity came along when the shop I now own became vacant. So I purchased the freehold.
What do you like the most about the fish and chips shop industry?
Trade consistency, it doesn’t fluctuate like some trades do, also the fact that fish and chips are loved by all generations young and old, it’s a national treasure.
What do you dislike the most about the fish and chip shop industry?
The fact that there are a lot of operators de-valuing the industry by serving huge portions at ridiculously low prices; in the long run it damages the industry and every shop large or small
What is special about your fish and chips shop?
We are the only award winning fish and chip shop for miles and we pride ourselves in serving the perfect portion of fish and chips every time
Why do you like the Natural Batter?
I leave decisions like this to my customers, if they like it and come back, then its a winner. Customers love the batter, and it cooks beautiful.
What is the area of your shop like?
Our shop is situated in a working class area where majority of people are in employment.
We have 4 fish and chips shops within a mile radius as well as 3 pizza shops 4 Chinese and 5 Indian take aways
Tell us a little about your family or team operation?
We have a valued workforce in place from spud basher to counter staff to assistant fryer to our delivery drivers. We all aim to deliver a fast friendly service with delicious food every time.
5 MINUTES WITH BRENT IN BARNSLEY
Posted by Stelios Theocharous December 10, 2009 - 12:52 pm
Name: Brent Watson
Shop: Y-pas Chippy
Location: Barnsley, South Yorkshire
Range: Hopkins
How long you been in trade?
I entered the trade in 1991 when I came to work for my father in the shop that I now run. Started out doing spuds at first then moved onto cutting fish then eventually frying.
What you do before, and how did it influence what you do in your shop?
When I left school I was Car and motorbike mad, so I set my heart on the motor trade. My first job was a apprentice paint sprayer / panel beater at a Peugeot dealership. This was a very precise and thorough trade were every thing had to be perfect to get the finish that was expected on a motor car.
We worked mainly on new and accident damaged cars and I enjoyed it very much. The process of painting a car and frying good fish and chips are not that dissimilar in that most of the work goes on before the final paint / fry. When we prepped a car we would get 40 hours to get it ready and it would take 20 min’s to put the paint on at the end. So same really we bone and portion fish to within a quarter of a ounce, we peel spuds and check and clean every one by hand. We make batter the same every shift. we clean the shop and do all the paper work then we fry fish and chips in a few minutes.
Who runs the shop with you?
Me and my wife Anne run the shop we work together and also separately along with staff. But one of us is always on site all the time. I think this is a crucial to our success.
What’s your location like?
Our shop is situated in a village on the outskirts of Barnsley in Yorkshire.
We have good parking but we don’t have a large population to make the shop busy their for we have to work for every customer.
How would you describe your menu, and what lengths do you go too to source best products?
Our menu is a very traditional we don’t do Pizza or Kebabs We try and aim for the family order especially at tea time when we close at 7.30. Our philosophy is to open be busy and close job done. The food is fresh the range is working the oil is working and every one is a winner customer and us alike!
What is it you like about our batter mix?
We just love The Batter Co product. It is good stuff that just wont let you down. My wife Anne loves batter but batter don’t love her and after about half an hour after enjoying fish and chips Anne feels bloated and quiet sickly. Now we know its the batter because she don’t feel like this if she just as chips nor if she eats fish poached or oven baked. But since we changed to The Batter Co batter this problem is no more and that got me thinking if this happens to Anne then how many others must it affect?
What range you got?
We have a 3 pan Hopkins counter range that has been fitted with Stork electronic controllers. Its nothing fancy but it is a good work horse.
Any hobbies?
Not much time for hobbies, but I do enjoy carp fishing with my lad and I just love family time whether its walking, swimming, going out for lunch or chilling in the garden!
OPEN & HYGIENIC OR CLOSED!
Posted by Stelios Theocharous December 1, 2009 - 7:59 am
Written for Fish & Chips & Fast Food Magazine, Nov/Dec 2009
I haven’t commented on this subject before, as I think that time was needed for the whole debate to settle and the evidence to come forward. Earlier this year, a fish and chip shop was closed by the local authorities because their customers had contracted E.coli 0157. I have some issues about this whole case and although it seems like I am targeting the shop, if you read on, you will see I am focusing on the whole incident and its wider meaning.
I spend most of my time visiting fish and chip shops giving out batter samples and the other part working in our shop. I see some brilliant shops, and I can honestly say hand on heart that the percentage of shops that are dirty, and unclean to the eye has been well under 1%. I think it is easiest to blame a poor shop on the shop owner, and to be fair most of it is his/her fault. However, customers do have the choice not to go there. I know from my own experience how my customers appreciate a nice clean shop to buy their food from. If they didn’t think we were clean would they shop with us? I don’t think so!
When the shop in question was closed, it was because the local authorities had concerns that the public might be at risk. Now, E.coli is mostly found in beef and vegetables, so this is my first issue. Heat kills E.coli, that’s issue number two, and my third issue – in case you’re thinking I am sticking up for the shop in question – is if it is possible that this shop did give customers E.coli why was it still in business?
Please stay with me – there is a lot of information to take in, and I hope after you have read it we will all look at our practices a bit harder.
Beef and vegetables are the most likely source of E.coli, so in our business this could be down to burgers, potatoes, and kebabs, if you do them, because they have beef in them too. So it’s possible the shop in question had left his meat products uncovered in the danger zone for great lengths of time and then cooked them inadequately and then served them to these unsuspecting customers – but I cannot understand why anyone would do this. The proprietor had been in business for 17 years so he should know a thing or two about keeping customers (although his claim to fame is quite the opposite now). Then you come to potatoes, because as you know they are a vegetable, and E.coli can be present on potatoes from cattle manure. But we do wash the potatoes thoroughly and then they get chipped and usually washed again – but even assuming all the mud has gone there is still a risk that there is E.coli on the raw chips. Which brings me to my next point.
Heat is the one thing we have in abundance in fish and chip shops. If it’s not fryers, it’s kebab machines or ovens or even cookers and we now have loads of red tape in fish and chip shops about making sure things are hot over 75oc and then held above 68oc and then making sure all frozen foods and chilled foods are kept to the correct temperatures.
So let’s take this step by step: we have prepped the chips, and our fish has been delivered. We’re ready to prep up and my pans are set to 180oc. I make my batter and I then start cooking. I start to add my fish by battering and laying into the pan, where the temp is 180oc, though it may drop a little over the next 5-8 minutes depending on how you cook your fish, with chips or without. The fish is piping hot when it comes out – well above 100oc – and then my heater is set to 80oc, so that’s quite safe isn’t it? Then my chips cook for around 6-8 minutes at 180oc. OK, the temperature will fluctuate depending on the parameters ie: how many chips you added to pan, temperature of pan, state of oil etc, but still they are fairly safe and my health inspector said there is more chance of the pope coming to visit my shop than somebody getting food poisoning from my chips! I know that not all shops do kebabs and burgers but it is relevant because a lot of shops do, so my kebabs are on a high heat and to be fair I have been trained for years to make sure it’s not raw, and usually it’s very simple to tell: the cooked meat has a cooked colour of greyish brown, and raw is red so it’s fairly obvious. When cooked, the meat either gets served fresh or goes into a bain marie at about 80oc.
For my third issue, we go back to the customer who is ill or a customer who eats food from a shop so dirty that against all the odds explained above E.coli was still found. I just can’t understand it. Surely such a shop would be visibly unhygienic? WHY would customers eat in a place like this? So before we get as far as the council, I believe customers are at fault if they choose to support a business which is obviously dirty and has very bad hygiene practices. They really are asking for trouble, aren’t they? It’s just like a disclaimer on a building that’s about to be demolished – there is a warning sign saying “do not enter”, so if you do, it’s at your own risk! For customers in the food industry, the “signs” are dirt, rubbish, and general uncleanliness – if they disregard them, it’s at their own risk, but I still can’t understand why anyone would patronise a dirty shop and help keep it open for business.
I know most fish and chip operators are thinking along the same lines, because – while a handful of shops with poor hygiene practises do damage the look of the whole industry because of the stereotype – I can tell you that in some of the shops I have visited since being in this job, I would happily eat off the floor (well, sitting on it because that’s just plain wrong!) because they’re that clean, so it’s a very small minority that lets us down.
My last point which leads on from this is that health inspectors are not doing a proper job. Their departments are under-funded and they cannot keep up with the number of food shops that are selling inferior food in an unhygienic setting. We see our health inspector once every 3 – 6 months depending on how busy he is, and when I see some of the food establishments locally (all food takeaways and restaurants) I do feel let down at the least.
I think that everyone is to blame in this particular case: the customers, the owner and the council. I believe if a shop is not good enough it should be closed until further notice, which would send a strong message to the public and the owners of food establishments. Rather than messing about with star systems or smiley faces, if they want to raise standards give just two choices – Open & Hygienic or Closed!
GOING ONLINE, IS IT TIME?
Posted by Stelios Theocharous October 1, 2009 - 7:29 am
Written for Fish & Chips & Fast Food Magazine, October 2009 Issue
I am very sure that a lot of you have been reading in the paper or listening on the news about one of Britain’s biggest companies having union problems; not only is it one of Britain’s largest companies it is owned by the government, and for, those of you that don’t understand why I am writing about this then I will explain to you a number of reasons.
• I believe it can affect the industry & retail as a whole.
• I believe a trade magazine should focus on outside news as well, because national issues affect us all
• I would like to write about something a little out of the box
So back to the Royal Mail…they employ around 120,000 people – that is a big number, generally I would imagine that calculates to 120,000 households all over the country, They are about to go on strike to prove a point, if not nationally yet, they are regionally. I don’t know if any of you have been affected by this but it has been a terror around here. You see my concern is this: if region by region people start going on strike it is not going to be a good thing, I am not just referring to the Royal Mail staff spending money in our shops – here is a list of problems.
• Your payments being received late and thus annoying the supplier.
• Your payments to you being received late thus annoying you.
• Your customers getting paid late thus annoying them.
• Everything bodged up in time for Christmas, all retail business messed up.
• Everything comes late.
See, it might not seem important, but the fact is they send millions of letters a week, though the number is falling, I only know that from the postal workers’ side of things, they want more money and better hours, whereas the Royal Mail want to modernise their workforce and ultimately – yes – employ less staff, but they say that they need to make these changes if they are to compete with the private companies.
It is not a story that effects all the people in Britain, most people say give the job to someone else! But it will affect the people who receive letters and money from others. If it causes a stress on people’s finances what will happen to their shopping habits? You have to ask yourself this question. A lot of self employed people get paid through the mail via cheque; a lot of elderly and people who don’t work get their pensions and benefits through the post. So if a small proportion of people in the UK get their payments late it could all go pear shaped. In the last postal strike over 200 million letters were backlogged and put in storage until they could get them sent out,. Because of these regional strikes there are already 30 million and the number is rising, The AA has warned that drivers could get big fines and their cars impounded if the ANPR (Automated Number Plate Recognition system) is not updated with who has paid their road tax. The system will automatically send out fines to people who think they have paid their road tax. And let’s not think about what the rogue car park companies will do if their payment is not received. If you get caught driving without insurance because your payment hasn’t arrived, you could get up to 6 points and a £5000 fine. Even if all problems are reversed at a later date because the letters start to go through, what about the stress of all this on the nation? If people start losing their jobs because of certain situations that are out of their control it will not be good for anyone.
I know Royal Mail isn’t directly involved with our industry, but with a company as big as this and given its role in the country, it will still have an impact on our businesses. Maybe this will give us all a kick in the you know where to start going online and digital. But where does that leave our suppliers who have not done so yet?
What do you think? Isn’t it time we started ordering our materials and supplies online where we can, and paying our bills through the internet banking system?
SAVE MONEY BY WASTING TIME… HMMM
Posted by Stelios Theocharous September 1, 2009 - 6:49 am
Written for Fish & Chips & Fast Food Magazine, September 2009 Issue
Picture this, I was at the petrol station, filling up with diesel and minding my own business while a guy on the next pump is messing about with the pump trying to get his fuel to come to a round price. I didn’t really care at this point, but it was quite funny when he went over by 1p and I had to laugh at how passionate he was about having exactly £20 in his tank. I generally pay all my petrol costs by card – this way I can trace back my purchases and I don’t have to have a pocket full of change. So you can imagine my surprise when this guy is in front of me at the checkout, complaining to the woman on the till about the fact that they should let him off the 1p and he did not want to pay it!
Now this would have been okay if I could have got in and out by joining another queue, but on this occasion there was only one till open, and I was stuck. But it made me wonder why this muppet thought he should get this 1p free! Imagine how much it would cost a huge corporation like BP if they let everybody off 1p – although they probably would not miss it that much, business is still business, after all.
So now you’re probably thinking what does this have to do with fish and chips and how I run my shop. etcetera? Well, the point is that this experience and a chat with a fish and chip shop owner earlier that day had brought home to me that there is not much loyalty to wholesalers in our industry. I am out on the road most days and I talk with a lot of fryers and a lot of wholesalers and it seems like there is a lot of distrust amongst them all.
Sorry to do this again, but picture this: a shop owner gets into his shop in the morning, sets up his jobs, puts his peas in the bain marie, makes up his curry sauce, puts pies in the oven and lights up the range and sticks the kettle on so that he can make a coffee (or in my case Neil will make it for me…!) and then the phone rings and you pick it up and it’s T Quality (or whoever you buy from) and you place your order and that’s it, you’re done. After a long day at work you finish up, go to bed and get some well-earned rest. Next day, you get up and repeat the day before – but this time you’re accepting and checking your delivery rather than ordering – and so it goes on.
But this is where it can get tricky when your day still consists of all the above – but then you spend anything up to an hour haggling with and talking to five different suppliers trying to save a penny, and then you place orders with three of those companies which means that the long day you would have had using one supplier has just been made three times harder because you now have three deliveries to unpack, three invoices to pay, and on the day of ordering, another three people to talk to – and the annoying thing is that if you have bought own label products, some of them might be different and might not appeal as much to your customers…
Please don’t think I am stupid and don’t agree with finding the best price. Let me explain myself – I am not talking riddles, I promise! I am a big fan of value for money. If I can buy products I trust for my business at a cheaper rate than most wholesalers offer, then I go for it. But one thing I won’t do is keep going to and from five or six suppliers. I don’t believe in sacrificing time over price, because yes, you can save money, but if you have just spent several hours of extra work and stress in that week, which was already a long week, then I don’t see the point. Yes, you might spend an extra ten pence on sausages if you don’t shop around, but that’s life and you are less stressed than before.
Now, I am not saying don’t look at others’ prices – if you see a difference that you’re not happy with then walk away, but I am saying that this method of time saving and staying on top of things is better for business than chopping and changing from one supplier to another for pennies, with all the extra work it involves.
It would be interesting to know what the suppliers think about this, what efforts they make to keep prices down for fish and chip shops and explain to us why prices go up?
Millennium Gets Battered To Go Natural
Posted by Stelios Theocharous June 11, 2009 - 9:25 am
Name: Paul Martin
Shop Name: Millennium Fish Bar
Location: Leicester
Range: Kiremko
Paul has been in the industry for over 20 years, starting off at Mario’s Fish Bar in Leicester which had an excellent reputation with customers and is probably one of the most famous fish and chip shops in Leicester, and then moving to his own shop with his wife to Saffron Lane in Leicester.
The area of Leicester is saturated with fish and chip shops so the competition is very intense, millennium fish bar has had to innovate and invest into their business practices, the Leicestershire council recently awarded the shop with a smiley face award which is the highest a food take away can get, which recognises food hygiene practices, structure of the building exterior and interior and their overall confidence with the management. Paul Says “I have been using the natural batter mix now for over a year and the consistency is just great, even when I changed over to HE Kiremko range I didn’t have to change the way I make my batter, It is consistent between all the three people who make the batter mix, I don’t mind paying more for certain products if they are better but the batter company natural is better value for money in my opinion. It is not easy to make a decision to change a product but I wanted to stand out from the competition and wanted a natural product rather than an orange one that my rivals are using.”
Stelios says.
“Paul and his wife and their Team work very hard to keep customers happy, they go out of their way to use the finest products and keep the locals coming in. After being at this shop for just over 10 years it is no small feat, and to carry on keeping the standards high day by day is an achievement in its self. We are of course happy to have Millennium on our list of happy customers, I know that they feel comfortable to let us know if there ever is a problem.”
Tony Zarcone Goes Natural
Posted by Stelios Theocharous June 11, 2009 - 9:14 am
Name: Tony Zarcone
Shop: Pisces Fish Bar
Where: Earl Shilton, Leicestershire
Range: Perfecta
Batter: Natural
Tony Zarcone & his sister cannot decide if it was 1961 or 1962 when they moved to England from Sicily, but then they finally settled on 1961. However it is not how long they have been in England that matters but the number of years they have been cooking quality fish and chips.
Pisces Fish & Chips is off the beat and track in a village called Earl Shilton in Leicestershire. They are off the main road in residential area and are a real chimney top fish and chip shop, so they don’t really get passing trade so it does truly matter what he serves his customers, because if the food is not of the highest quality customers will not go out of their way to eat their fish and chips. The village of Earl Shilton is only small, but there is a lot of competition from fish and chip shops and other takeaway’s that serve fish and chips along side their menu of kebabs, café and pizza, however Tony only does fish and chips with a limited menu including pies and items like sausages etcetera. Tony does not believe that the way forward is opening late hours and offering a vast menu, he only believes in opening hours that customers need. His team of his brother and his sister and employees keep the customers happy with their personal customer service skills that only come with being in a local area for as long as they have.
Tony has been frying fish and chips for nearly 40 years, and he has seen a thing or two, his family have been frying fish and chips for just as long with a fish and chip shop in Leicester, so when it comes to batter mix and frying mediums Tony only uses the best and only quality branded products like The Batter Company Natural & Frymax, three years ago Tony installed a high efficiency Perfecta range which he swears by and with all the of the above and cooking as fresh as possible is what keeps him and his customers happy.
Stelios Says “I was out canvassing when I dropped into see Tony at Pisces and when I showed him my batter mix, he was proud to say that he had already started using it after requesting a sample from his supplier Caterway based in Mansfield. Tony has 40 years experience in the trade, and I knew it would be difficult for him to change batter mix; however the family was very pleased with not only the quality but also the consistency. At The Batter Company we do not take for granted when a customer moves over to our batter mix, we find that were not building a customer base but a network of friends whom like the batter and get passionate about the food they fry.”
The Great Big Food Turnaround..
Posted by Stelios Theocharous May 28, 2009 - 5:34 am
The word rustic is popping up all over the place lately, on the M5 this morning i see it on the back of a large lorry, it seems that over the last two years there is an uprising within the whole food industry.
Fish and chips is a meal which we tell our customers is simple and tastes brilliant if cooked properly, i always remember telling my customers that our fish and chips was fresh fish, fresh chips, flour and water, but that was all i knew, until you look at the bag of batter and see whats in it, it shocks you a little.
For example we say do you add colourings when making home made yorkshire puddings??? the answer is no. So why do manufacturers add artificial colourings to batter mixes when we cook with a frying medium which naturally creates colour.
Customers are starting to get very fussy, they dont want to see fake food anymore, they want to eat healthy, nutritious food cooked freshly.
Let us know what you think, leave your comments below.
