Chips are never far from the menu, be it in posh restaurants and gastropubs or chip shops and mobile vans. The most popular way of eating potatoes was invented by the French in the 18th century and first recorded in Britain in 1854, when a leading chef featured ‘thin-cut potatoes cooked in oil’ in his recipe book, Shilling Cookery. Chips have since become a national institution, and some1.25 million tonnes of UK potatoes are made into chips every year.
National Chip Week is now in its 17th year, and the 2008 event, kicking off next week, is expected to be the most influential yet. The British Potato Council (BPC), which co-ordinates the activities on behalf of the UK industry, aims to raise awareness and boost sales both in the short and long term. “National Chip Week is a fun event that celebrates both the taste and enjoyment of chips, as one of the UK’s favourite foods,” says Caroline Arblaster, BPC marketing executive. “The promotion aims to drive sales of chips during what can be a traditionally quiet period. Statistics show that while many consumers love chips, the market is under constant threat from other takeaways and intense media exposure. National Chip Week puts chips at the top of consumers’ minds, while reinforcing the message that chips can form part of a healthy balanced diet - there are lots of choices, from chunky chips, thin chips, crinkle-cut chips, low-fat chips, oven-baked chips or chip shop-bought chips.”
National Chip Week has celebrity backing this year in the form of Keith Chegwin and his sidekick, the BPC Chip Inspector, who are on a mission to find the best chips in the UK. They will award the National Golden Chip Award to the establishment that serves the best chips, as voted for by the public. The winner, which could be a fish and chip shop, gastropub, restaurant or even mobile food van, will be chosen from nominations made on the National Chip Week website - www.lovechips.co.uk - until February 17.
The duo will also embark on a regional tour to present a Chip Inspector’s Choice award.
“This is the first year that National Chip Week has been fronted by a celebrity and this, combined with the high-profile PR campaign, is expected to generate in excess of £2.75m worth of coverage in total,” says Arblaster. “With coverage already appearing on Radio One, in The Independent, Woman and Home and Maxim magazines - with much more lined up for the week - 2008 is on course to be the best National Chip Week to date.”
The whole industry stands to gain from National Chip Week and, as usual, the entire supply chain - from growers to suppliers through to foodservice - has got on board. “Growers and merchants have been instrumental in recruiting fish and chip shops to take part in National Chip Week, by handing out flyers to their customers, and we’ve also had many requests for the promotional lorry stickers,” says Arblaster. “Many packers and processors are helping to promote the week with on-pack recipe stickers and labelling, while retailers are making the most of cross-promotional opportunities and in-store events.
“Pubs, restaurants and cafes are also taking part, helping to create a buzz around chips, while foodservice groups and suppliers are supporting the week with their own promotional and competition activity.”
Chip shops are still at the heart of the campaign and, to date, 800 have registered to take part this year. Each shop will receive a point-of-sale kit, including display material and a special scratch card promotion, to help draw attention to the week and boost sales.
The annual event generates extensive press coverage in national and regional newspapers, as well as on television, radio and in consumer and trade magazines.
National Chip Week 2007 was considered a huge success and achieved the most press coverage to date, including daily mentions on the Channel 4 chat show, Richard and Judy.
Feedback from fish and chip shops was encouraging, with 90 per cent of participating outlets satisfied with the promotion. Seventy per cent of them reported an increase in chip sales during the week.
The 2008 campaign is expected to build on previous successes and be the biggest yet. To date, Cheggers and the BPC’s Chip Inspector have already reached some 15m radio listeners, following a guest slot on the Chris Moyles BBC Radio One Breakfast Show on January 16, and a further 25 interviews for radio stations across the country, helping to drum up interest for the National Golden Chip Award.
The event will fall over the Valentine’s Day period, in line with the Love Chips theme.
The target audience, as always, is the general population aged 18-40 but, according to Arblaster, 18- to 35-year-olds present the greatest media opportunities.
The positive impact that the promotional activities have on the potato category can be measured by the notable boost that they give to chip sales, both during and after the seven-day event. “There is a very strong, consistent peak to chip sales in late February,” says Denis Alder, head of market information and statistics at the BPC. “This is very noticeable compared to other potato products, and is perhaps driven by National Chip Week. Chip consumption drops to its lowest in August, and shows another peak in November.”
But the UK chip market is not as strong as it once was at its peak in 2003, following impressive growth in the 1980s and 1990s. The sector has since stalled in the face of increased competition from rival products - both from within and outside the potato category - but this has not stopped the sector from fighting for its share.
“Since 2003 in particular, UK demand for chips has dropped, but this has been compensated by a rapid growth in chip exports,” says Alder. “About 55 per cent of chip consumption is UK sourced, and 45 per cent imported, mostly from the Netherlands and Belgium.”
Chip supply, however, has been more stable than it has been across the rest of the potato category this season. The production conditions that took their toll on the UK crop last year, reducing volumes and affecting quality, have not hit the chip market to the same extent. “The processing sector has been less affected than pre-packs - in fact, because many tubers intended for pre-pack are being graded out, they are being re-sold for processing, which is compensating for the higher losses in crops originally designated for processing,” says Alder. “However, supply is still somewhat shorter than usual, with higher-than-average prices, but it is not an extreme situation.
“There are ample quantities of continental stocks of processing material available, which are competitive at current price levels. Any shortfalls are therefore being made up by imports.”
Tough trading conditions across the potato category this season have not deterred investment in the chilled chip sector.
Aviko is a leader in the prepared and processed potato sector, with its turnover last year reaching $450m (£228m). The supplier markets chilled chips under the brand name Lord Chips, which has been revamped this year. The 30-year-old brand has been reinvigorated with an improved logo, new advertising, and other activities throughout the year aimed at underlining the quality of ‘proper’ chips.
“There is a strong emphasis on a high level of distribution and brand awareness,” says Elise Hylkema, brand manager for foodservice at Aviko. “We sell more than four million portions of frozen and chilled chips a day through our customer base, which includes some of the largest international or local leading companies in the retail and foodservice sectors.”
Fresh chips are a staple line in the foodservice sector, with three-quarters of meals eaten outside the home featuring a portion of the UK favourite.
Reynolds Catering has seen an increase in demand for fresh chips, especially from hotels, restaurants and pubs striving for a traditional and tasty product, says managing director Tony Reynolds. “British fresh chips, thick-cut, are becoming more and more of a bespoke product,” he says. “A lot of our customers want to offer something a bit different to the general product out there. The provenance of the product is key, and we are open with our customers about where a product has come from - whether it is local to them, or imported from the Netherlands - but they have to realise that some products come at a premium.
“We have to listen to our customers and, because the requirements vary, we have to provide all different kinds of chips. We have noted that customers have started to ask for fresh chips that have been blanched, and this is something we are looking out for at the moment.
“Chip sales have been static for some years now, but we have seen an increase in some niche products.”
A new British chip brand has hit the UK foodservice sector with the introduction of Vale’s Fresh - part of Greenvale AP - in November last year. Some 38,000t of chips - made from UK-grown Maris Piper and cut traditionally before being vacuum-packed - will be sold in the UK each week.
The range was created following extensive research into exactly what caterers want in a chip, from the shape to shelf life, as well as the all-important taste. “Before launching, we spoke to lots of potential customers to get everything right - the flavour, the shape, the texture,” says Nolwenn Guezou, commercial manager at Vale’s Fresh. “But there were other very important considerations, including consistency, quality and availability. Greenvale’s strong relationship with growers across the UK provides a guarantee of all three.
“We supply only fresh chips and they are the classic British chip shape, cut in the traditional British way - 14mm square, not too thin and not too fat - and once cooked they are firm, have a crisp outside and are fluffy on the inside.”
The Vale’s Fresh chips have a 10-day shelf life as a result of the five-step processing developed by Greenvale AP, which uses technologies such as hydro cutting to preserve natural flavour and goodness. Tests have shown that Vale’s Fresh chips absorb up to 50 per cent less fat than frozen, par-fried alternatives.
The launch went ahead in November, despite a challenging UK season. “The price of the raw material has gone up and storage has been a problem this season, because of high blight levels,” says Guezou. “Getting good-quality, raw ingredients is becoming more difficult for many suppliers - luckily Vale’s Fresh, as part of Greenvale AP, does not have this problem, as our lines of supply are well established.”
Vale’s Fresh was keen to back National Chip Week and has proposed that restaurants offer their customers the means to make a DIY-CB (do-it-yourself chip butty) as part of their meal, with a selection of ketchup, sauces and condiments, as well as alternative bread slices and garnishes.
“It’s all a bit of fun, but it’s fun that has the potential to create business and happy customers for caterers and chip shops,” says Jason Spires, who worked on the idea. “The idea is to help caterers make the most of the media buzz that surrounds National Chip Week,” he adds. “Just about everyone loves a chip butty, so why not put them on the menu? For example, fish and chip shops can give their suggestions as to how to make the perfect chip butty, and offer customers the necessary condiments for free during the week.”
Vale’s Fresh teamed up with food writer and broadcaster Roz Denny to turn the spotlight on the chip butty, and formulate some light-hearted suggestions to get UK consumers to tuck in. The chip butty, contrary to what some might think, does have a place in a balanced diet, says Denny. “In these health-conscious days, when nutritionists are telling us to increase the intake of healthy starchy carbs in our diet, sandwiching hot freshly fried chunky chips between slices of fresh bread can actually make sense - and a little of what you fancy does you good, as part of a balanced diet,” she explains. “If you want something to appeal to the health-conscious chip butty lover, go for wholemeal bread and trade the sauces for a garnish of lettuce, tomatoes and onions.
“As for the potato the chip is made from, foodies agree the gourmet choice has got to be Maris Piper,” she adds.
MCCAIN IN CHIPPER FORM
McCain Foods has used only British potatoes in all of its chips since October last year. The well-known frozen chip manufacturer has worked with more than 300 UK farmers and, for the past five years, 95 per cent of its products have been made from home-grown potatoes. This commitment to 100 per cent British potatoes was a natural progression.
A 100 per cent British Potatoes logo has been put on packs next to the Red Tractor logo, which shows shoppers that the potatoes used to produce McCain chips have been grown to high quality standards.
The move has cemented the connection between grower and manufacturer, says Simon Eyles, marketing director for McCain Foods. “We have had a close working relationship with British farmers for generations and are pleased to be able to use 100 per cent British potatoes for all of our chips,” he says. “We are proud to be able to say to our customers that our chips are a quality British product made with the very best simple, natural ingredients.”
McCain’s commitment to 100 per cent British potatoes supports the It’s All Good campaign, launched in 2006. The initiative aims to remind consumers that McCain products are made of the best British potatoes and that they are indeed, ‘all good’.
The campaign focuses on the humble, natural potato and seeks to remove the guilt consumers feel when they purchase frozen foods, as the popular perception is that frozen food is over-processed and unhealthy. McCain intends to make clear that its potato products are made from natural ingredients, which are prepared simply and with care. This theme of simplicity and showing the consumer exactly how products are prepared is key to persuading more consumers to shop the frozen aisle in their hunt for good, easy-to-prepare food.
McCain re-designed packs across its core range of Oven Chips, Home Fries and Micro Chips as part of the It’s All Good strategy, with clearer nutritional information for consumers to read and understand. The packs feature new logos and modernised colour schemes, as well as a new iconic image of real potatoes. The packs also feature the traffic light labelling system, as defined by the Food Standards Agency, as well as the guideline daily amount (GDA) for each product, and the It’s All Good promise.
McCain has sought to educate consumers about the origin of the humble potato with The Potato Story, which kicked off in the summer of 2006. The seed of the idea for The Potato Story emerged from research by the British Heart Foundation in 2005, which found that one in three children did not know that chips were made from potatoes. The scheme, which is tailored to children aged seven to 11, is housed in a decommissioned, re-designed London routemaster bus, and showcases the best way to grow and harvest potatoes, as well as different methods to prepare them to eat. The core elements of the story are brought to life on the bus by a ‘farmer’ in his field and the ‘cook’ in her kitchen, both played by actors, to create an interactive learning experience.
The Potato Story has been developed into a primary school teaching tool, targeted at Key Stage 2 and fully aligned to the national curriculum.
“The Potato Story provides the perfect vehicle to teach children about food provenance, while informing and educating about the value of potatoes as part of a balanced diet,” says Eyles. “As a food manufacturer, we are passionate about potatoes and intimately understand the principles of field to fork, and all the steps in that chain. We are delighted to be able to use our knowledge to help children learn about the origins of their food.”
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