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Major names from the UK food and drink industry are supporting the 22nd National Fish & Chip Shop of the Year competition, as 17 companies from across the UK sign up as sponsors for the prestigious event.
With voting well under way, shops across the UK have until today (Friday 4 September) to canvas enough customer votes to make it to the next phase of the prestigious competition, run by Seafish, the authority on seafood.
Sponsors this year include: Dinaclass, Henry Jones, Goldensheaf, VA Whitley, Henry Colbecks, Friars Pride, Middleton Food Products, Nortech Foods, Harlequin, Heinz SqueezMe, Drywite, James T Blakeman , Duncrue Food Processors, Vandemoortele, Unique Seafoods, Golden Banner, the National Edible Oils Distributors Association (NEODA) , the National Federation of Fish Friers (NFFF) and the Frozen at Sea Fillets Association (FASFA).
The competition celebrates the continuing improvements in quality, value and choice in fish and chip shops across the country. The strict judging involves several rounds of in-depth scrutiny followed by a presentation for finalists in January 2010.
Nikki Hawkins from Seafish, project manager for the competition, said: “It’s an exciting time to be part of the industry. It is thanks to the support of our sponsors that the competition continues to be such a success.
“The industry is continuing to flourish despite the challenging economic conditions. We’ve seen 4.5% growth in the value of fried fish sales over the last year and the quality of the fish and chip shops entering the competition is testament to the strength of the sector.”
Details of the top five shops in each area will be announced in September and the 19 area winners will be announced in October. A further round of judging will determine the top 10 shops in the country who will battle it out to be crowned Fish & Chip Shop of the Year at a ceremony in London in January 2010.
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