Fish City Leads the Way with ‘Enjoy Fish and Chips’ Campaign

Fish City is at the forefront of industry changes in the fish and chip sector, with the Belfast restaurant and takeaway being one of the first in the UK to offer healthier portion sizes, and providing nutritional content as part of an industry drive to keep fish and chips at the top of the takeaways.

The Enjoy Fish & Chips campaign, which has been launched by Seafish and AHDB for the fish and chip industry, highlights consumer habits and preferences when eating fish and chips. The initiative aims to meet the evolving needs of customers with regards to variety and nutrition.

John and Grainne Lavery joined the fish and chip industry a few years ago when they opened Fish City. Now, by providing nutritional data and more meal choices for customers, they are exceeding profit expectations, have hired 23 staff and have moved to a new Belfast city centre location to catch increased passing trade.

In just a short period of time, John and Grainne have earned fans from around Northern Ireland and beyond, and are keen to promote fish and chips as one of the most balanced takeaway options in the UK. To do this, they want everyone to know all about the dish’s nutritional content.

Calculating success

The husband and wife team have been chosen by the Northern Ireland Food Standards Agency to test a menu calculator before its launch, enabling Fish City to calculate nutritional information of their menu items including calories, energy, vitamins, allergies and more.

The restaurant and takeaway has also introduced smaller 100g portion servings of fish, which has proved popular at lunchtimes, with customers seeking smaller meal size choices. It also caters for children by making smaller portions of adult dishes and offers customers the choice of having their food cooked in vegetable oil or beef dripping.

As well as the work on nutrition, John and Grainne will be partnering with schools to teach nine to 11-year-olds about responsibly-sourced fish species, helping to encourage the next generation of fish and chip shop owners to understand why using local suppliers and sustainable fishing practices matters. The Fish City website has a bespoke kids section educating children about the different species of fish.

Through introducing nutritional information and new portion sizes, John and Grainne have demonstrated that it is possible to keep fish and chips at the top of the takeaway!