Who are we? What do we do?

The Chip Group™ is made up of a range of players in the food service industry, such as potato growers, chip manufacturers, oil suppliers, equipment suppliers and media. We are contracted by The Ministry of Health to deliver the Best Frying Practice Training.

WHAT IS THE CHIP GROUP™ FOR?

Our overriding goal is to improve the nutritional status of deep-fried chips served by New Zealand foodservice* by reducing fat (total and saturated) and salt content.

WHY DO WE NEED A CHIP GROUP™?

New Zealanders love hot chips and we have an obligation to provide the highest quality possible, as an industry. Many chips can be high in fat and salt and so they have a big impact on people’s health. By making them healthier, we can in turn make our population healthier!

WHAT HAVE WE DONE / WHAT DO WE DO?

Growth of The Chip Group™

Each year we have been encouraging both industry suppliers and food service operators to be more involved so this means The Chip Group™ is more inclusive and representative of the whole industry.

Literature search

This was a big project we did in 2007 – it clearly indicated we are world leaders in our activities as there are no models to follow!

Monitoring our progress

In 1999, 2007 and 2011 we surveyed outlets to give us an accurate picture of the industry – so we know exactly how much fat, what sized portions etc are being served. These national surveys have shown that the industry is making significant progress in the fat and salt content of chips. No time to relax though – we still have a lot to improve – the more people that train the better it gets!

Development of Industry Standards

In 2008 we were thrilled to get unanimous industry agreement for Industry Standards for Independent Fast Food Operators and another set for Hospitality /Food Service. Things got even better in 2009 when we were able to merge the Industry Standards and have one set that applies to the whole industry! This is what we have based all our online training on.

Advocacy progress

We work with government so we make sure we all are working towards one common goal.

Communication plan

We have a strategy in place to talk to all members of the industry and to our chip loving consumers. We want New Zealanders to know that we are a pro-active industry proud of what we do!

Competitions

This is a highlight in the ‘chip community’ and has included People’s Choice Awards, best Chip Shop and Judge’s Supreme Awards over the years! Recently we have insisted shops have to be good enough to enter – so that means they have to do the training first and cook NZ made fries. We are thrilled that each year the standards just get higher! The consumers’ top voted chips are consistently the better quality chips – so consumers like eating less fat and don’t like them ‘greasy’! The competitions are annual and require CGBFP training to enter.

Free online training

Go and check this out in our tabs! This is our way to lift the quality of chips for the whole industry – and from what consumers tell us – it works!

When you complete the training you get a certificate. This is excellent to display for your customers to see. This tells the consumer that the operator is trained – so they are far more likely to get better chips. We are telling consumers to look out for the certificates. It also qualifies your business for entry in industry awards.

Profile within health industry

We like key people to know what we are doing because we are proud that when we work together, we can make a real difference to the health of New Zealanders. So The Chip Group™ presents the results of our collective work at relevant conferences e.g. Agencies for Nutrition Action, NZ Dietetic Conference and Nutrition Society of NZ Conference.