THE FUTURE? NEXT EXIT!
Posted by Stelios Theocharous July 7, 2010 - 1:58 pm
Fish and chips are now 150 years old, and it is amazing to see how far as an industry we have moved forward. There was a time when there were over 50,000 fish and chip shops in the United Kingdom and I am sure there was more than that tucked away in Betty’s front room serving up fish and chips from a coal fired range trying to make some extra money from the property they owned. Battered fish was more or less the equivalent of a pescatarian pasty, the batter was very thick and cooked within an inch of its life, however fish lovers would then peel off this shell and eat the fish from inside but then everything started to change, fish and chip shops have been on the change for a long time.
Over the course of the last 20 years most fish and chip shops have moved with the time and have even started using a thinner batter so that it can be eaten with the fish, and if done properly and is sealed accordingly it will cook with minimum oil penetrating the fish. However what will fish and chips be like in the next 50 years, how will we be celebrating on its 200th birthday?
There are a few questions to ask, will fish and chip shops reduce in number or increase? We know that from current trends a lot of people don’t want to purchase existing established fish and chip shops because they seem over priced, however instead people are choosing to open sites that were currently empty which is possibly adding to the already over saturated market place, however is this needed to weed out the bad or is it just going to add scrap bin of people who thought it was easy to open a chippy?
Will menus increase or will chippy owners start specialising in fish and chips rather than expand into a take away, I think this is a choice a lot of operators are now making. We will only see in a few years which of those choices actually work, will fish and chip shops succeed with limited but specialised menus and will customers prefer going to a fish and chip shop where they will pay more for a better product?
In the next 50 years we will see a lot of taxes and VAT increased on the fish and chip industry, historically VAT has never come down and I could imagine the government bodging up the economy a few more times in that 50 year period, so how we react as an industry in January 2011 is very important if people choose to absorb the VAT increase then it will create a larger gap in the industry and some shops will struggle to get their hands back on that profit lost.
I think that there is a catch 22 situation at the moment and a huge distrust within our industry; all fryers are there greatest allies and also their worst enemies. I am not suggesting that the local shops work together because that would be price fixing, but if everyone had a mutual respect for each other then they could all concentrate on making good profit and making great fish and chips, but I am not sure this is living in the real world.
As an industry we need to learn to be positive and confident, we cannot carry on absorbing all the hits that are put on us. I am not suggesting you go mental but be brave; no one wants to be a busy fool do they.
I have given you plenty of negative and positive scenarios and I am sure there is more on your mind; however I look forward to seeing your replies.
Well said – but I think you mean 2011
Lana
2011??
Has been amended Lana, Thanks for reply…
Been a long day.
I totally agree there is no need to go mental but be brave. We need to remember that other independant take aways like Pizza, Chinese and curry houses will also be increasing their prices in the New Year. I dont think this will stop the public ordering their favorite taka away? So why should Fish and Chips be any different especially as we offer a a higher quality product that costs more than the other take aways to purchase its raw materials. I am talking about the price of Fish, which I do not think will come down in price again as much as we would like to. I think it is time for all fish and chip shop owners in the UK to unite and sensibly increase their prices to maintain profit margins. Good food for thought!
On the whole I agree with you John, however I would warn you about giving the impression that you are agreeing prices among friers as this is against the restrictive practices . As a retired frier I would suggest that the trade is suffering from two problems that mean you are not able to make sufficient profit to allow you to reinvest in your business. Firstly as you say many friers are too frightened to increase their prices because they are always watching their competitors prices. Secondly you all seem to be determined to serve portions that are so large your customers couldn’t possibly eat them and so you are losing out on a huge chunk of profit because they are sharing one portion between two people.
Imagine the technology of the frying ranges in 50 years.
Great blog update.
A lot of this is of course intended for chip shop owners but as a customer I would love to see chip shops revert to being just that, a commerce providing well-cooked, fish and chips and not other things like pizzas and such.
Great Blog,
I have to say that Martin makes an excellent point.
Fish and chip owners are in a price war for sure. 50p chips, snack shots, bogof call it what you want it’s a price war. I speak to many fryers in my job and all I hear is the guy down the road. Well F$^k the guy down the road lets charge a good price for a superb product with no compromise….
Stelios, in answer to whether shop numbers will increase or decrease:
As you know, I’m about to enter the trade myself, and like you I’m also concerned about over saturation in the industry
I think you’ve hit the nail on the head regarding the current “trend”
People enter the trade believing it’s a license to print money.
Instead of buying the local shop from the man down road they try and save a few quid by opening up a new shop.
Whilst I applaud the idea of taking on an empty site and really making a go of it, I’m very much against adding to the already obvious problems of over saturation and poor standards
As I said at the start, I’ll be entering the trade soon, and in doing so I’ve decided to buck the current trend. That’s right…I’m buying the shop down the road, and in doing so I haven’t added to the problem of over saturation, and at the same time I’ve removed another poor quality shop from the industry
Maybe I could’ve opened a new shop in direct competition, but if we’re all looking to do our bit to drive the industry forwards, where would be the sense in that?
For those of you looking to enter the trade, or expand your business I’d urge you to do the same. Lets reduce the numbers, increase the standards, and show people just how good this trade can be
Great blog, as usual, i personally think, as an industry we have to fight together to reduce the public opinion, which is largely media driven and untrue as to health issues. get the facts in front of your customers, use as many bio-degradable products as you can, dont be scared to price yourself into profit and if that means putting your prices up, so be it, believe me i am in the same position as most where i have to watch the competition, but i am confident in my product, my portions, my customer rapport etc and i want my industry to survive !!and if you think Fish and Chip shops are in danger of over saturation.. look around at how many good ones there are compared to how many bad chicken/pizza/kebab/chinese/curry/cafes/sandwich shops there are, we sell a quality product and as long as we keep that quality above all else i look forward to the next 150 years.