As founders of National Fish & Chip Day, the National Edible Oil Distributors Association (NEODA) isdelighted to announce two new joint headline sponsors for one of the biggest food awareness days
in the calendar.
As well as continued support from its members since the organisation founded National Fish & Chip Day in 2015, NEODA has been joined by two leading lights in the Fish & Chip industry. The Q
Partnership, made up of 3 family wholesalers, comprising of Friars Pride, Henry Colbeck and V A Whitley who are major national suppliers, and Middleton Foods, a leading producer and supplier of loved and trusted batter mixes, sauces and breadings. Both sponsors are proud to support and supply Fish & Chip takeaways, restaurants, ‘food to go’ and mobile caterers nationwide.
2023 will see the 8 th National Fish & Chip Day taking place on Friday 2nd June and NEODA is confident that the involvement of the new sponsors will see the event, which has grown exponentially since its inception, continue to flourish and develop. The additional funding will
enable NEODA to put on an even greater show and get our Nation’s Number 1 Dish – Team Fish & Chips – out there even more. The Q Partnership and Middleton Foods have always been keen supporters of the event because they have seen first-hand how valuable the day is for this well-loved and incredible sector.
Indeed, in the past, many shops have reported that National Fish & Chip Day is their most successful trading day of the year, even superseding that traditional fish-eating day Good Friday!
The shops who take part really do go all-out and put on some excellent events, using their social media streams 1very effectively and generally enjoying and celebrating the day! Shops have seen that it doesn’t
have to cost them anything and that with just a little imagination they can generate enormous results, not just on the day, but in the weeks and months afterwards.
Gary Lewis, President of NEODA, who represent all the major refiners, key packers and distributors of edible oils as well as suppliers of non-oil products (such as batter mix, sausages, range manufacturers and potato preservatives) in the UK, said, “We are always impressed with the way
some shops embrace the day – we love it when they just ‘get it’ and know that the purpose of the day is to celebrate the nation’s favourite dish and, just in case anyone has forgotten about Fish & Chips, re-ignite their love of it on National Fish & Chip Day.
This PR generates some excellent interest and interaction and consumers often find themselves thinking about Fish & Chips after the day and then revisiting the shops or restaurants for more”.
Ryan Baker, Sales Manager for The Middleton Group said they are extremely proud to be joint headline sponsor for this years’ National Fish & Chip Day. “We have always seen the day as a fabulous way to showcase the amazing product the Fish & Chip industry has and the special people
that work so hard to produce it. Now, more than ever, we want to do all we can to help everyone get as much out of the day as possible and to attract new customers to the Nation’s best takeaway.”
Georgina Colbeck (on behalf of The Q Partnership) said “Our 3 family businesses have jointly been supplying Fish & Chip shops across the UK for a combined total of almost 300 years and supporting the industry is in our blood and it’s our passion – to us it’s personal. We know how challenging the past few years have been for everyone so we are putting extra support in to be joint headline sponsors for National Fish & Chip Day. We also want to champion Team Fish & Chips throughout the year to drive footfall and raise awareness of the fantastic food that our industry is producing, especially amongst the younger generation. We’re family businesses supporting family businesses feeding the nations’ families.”
In 2022, more than half the population would have seen, heard or read about National Fish & Chip Day and it was featured on or in national and regional TV, radio, newspapers, magazines and across the internet from dawn until late in the day -as well as trending on Twitter from 8am. Fish &
Chip roadshows were held in London, Cambridge, Wales and Scotland where members of the public enjoyed free Fish & Chips throughout the day.
Also involved is Seafood from Norway, from The Norwegian Seafood Council, who work with Norwegian fisheries and aquaculture industries to develop markets for Norwegian seafood. As well as Blakemans, a leading manufacturer of sausage and meat products, returning as sponsors in 2023 and who, along with all the sponsors, would love to see shops who haven’t already embraced the day getting involved. Pukka Pies and Refresco are also behind NEODA supporting the day. Everybody needs a ‘feel good day’, and NEODA and all the sponsors want National Fish & Chip Day 2023 to be even more special as we say a very big thank you to this amazing industry who are at the heart of every community, and who are facing enormous challenges with price rises and supply chain issues but are still going all-out to feed their communities this iconic family favourite.
Visit www.nationalfishandchipday.org.uk to find out more.