As today is National Fish & Chip Day – Friday June 2nd, as Joint Headline Sponsors we thought it would be a good idea to let you know the history of this iconic National Event ( if you didn’t already know ).
Why was National Fish & Chip Day Set up?
- In 2015, one of the finalists of the National Fish & Chip Awards – Papa’s Fish & Chips, mentioned how a National Awareness Day for fish and chips would be a great addition to the industry calendar.
- This idea was picked up by a member of the NEODA Board ( National Edible Oil Distributors’ Association ) and they decided it was something they could champion.
- The first ever National Fish & Chip Day began with a small programme of creative and attention-grabbing media activity, undertaken to bring the day to life in the mind of UK consumers and support the industry in driving footfall to local fish and chip businesses – including fish and chip shops, restaurants and foodservice establishments across the UK – to support sales.
- National Fish &Chip Day is about giving fish and chips the recognition it deserves and helping to secure its position in the eyes of both consumers and the media as the nation’s favourite dish.
Why Does NEODA Run National Fish & Chip Day?
- National Fish & Chip Day is an awareness day for the consumer and this means it embraces all formats of the dish, not just fish and chips from the local chippy.
- It tries to encompass everyone involved in creating this iconic British dish from fish and chip shops, pub chains, restaurants, retailers to the fishermen and farmers who provide the sustainable and natural ingredients needed to create this nutritionally-balanced family favourite.
- NEODA works closely with other industry organisations and trade bodies such as Seafish, the National Federation of Fish Friers (NFFF), the Frozen At Sea Fillets Association (FASFA) and The Fisherman’s Mission, to achieve the best success on the day.
Who Are NEODA & Why Do They Run The Event?
- The National Edible Oil Distributors’ Association (NEODA) is a non-profit organisation established in 1947 and its members include edible oil and fats refiners, processors, distributors and waste oil collectors. It also covers manufacturers and suppliers of non-oil products (including batter mix, sausages, packaging, and potato preservatives) and other industry bodies.
- NEODA members operate a Guarantee of Confidence scheme whereby all packs of edible oil and fat sold and distributed by members adhere to a strict set of requirements concerning product contents, labelling and pack sizes.
- NEODA runs the event because their members already have excellent relationships within the industry and running the day helps to consolidate and further build on these.
- It’s a feel-good-day that everybody loves working on and lots of NEODA members get fully behind the day by providing monetary support, prizes and the services of their respective staff to travel around the country engaging with fish and chip shops, often spending the day with them helping out in the shop.
How is National Fish & Chip Day Funded and What Is It Spent On?
- National Fish and Chip Day is funded by NEODA members with additional support provided via the generosity of industry partners.
- In 2023 Henry Colbeck is proud to be a Joint Headline Sponsor with our Q Partnership colleagues at Friars Pride & VA Whitley – Middleton Foods is also a joint headline Sponsor.
- The majority of funding goes towards running a wide and varied PR and media activity campaign to publicise NF&CD, and which has resulted in a year on year increase in resultant media coverage, with over 62 million people reached.
- Success stories include:
- National Fish and Chip Day being featured on: BBC’s The One Show; BBC Saturday Kitchen; ITV Loose Women; ITV This Morning; Forces TV; BBC Radio 2; BBC Breakfast News; ITV’s Coronation Street; Talk Radio; Absolute Radio; Radio X; LBC; Magic; 5 Live, Heart FM, Capital and Radio London. Consumer print media coverage includes titles such as The Daily Mail; The Sun, The Daily Star, The Daily Express, The Daily Mirror, City AM, i, Metro, as well as Woman’s Weekly, That’s Life, Take a Break, Country Living amongst many others. This is alongside a strong social media presence for NFCD where the day was trending on Twitter from 8am.