Media release 25 September 2013
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The Chip Group Ltd<\/p>\n

Oceanz Seafood in Silverdale scoops New Zealand\u2019s Best Chip Shop title<\/strong><\/p>\n

Daniel and Richard Billington, owners of Oceanz Seafood in Silverdale, are officially king of the chippies, after it was named New Zealand\u2019s Best Chip Shop. The Hibiscus Coast Highway shop beat five other finalists to scoop the title of Best Chip Shop Competition Champion 2013.<\/p>\n

Richard Billington said that the brothers, whose parents also owned a fish and chip shop, were absolutely delighted with the accolade. \u201cIt\u2019s taken a while for it to sink in but we\u2019ve all got smiles from ear to ear that we have finally done it,\u201d said Richard. \u201cWe\u2019re looking forward to celebrating with all our crew and thanking them for the part they have played in this success.\u201d<\/p>\n

The competition, run by The Chip Group every second year, is a chance for chip shops to showcase the quality of their product. Oceanz Seafood Silverdale won the national title in 2009 under previous management, took the regional title in 2011 and again this year under the Billingtons\u2019 ownership and has now scooped the top honours once more.<\/p>\n

A key criteria for the competition was to find shops serving the most delicious chips with lower fat content. All entrants\u2019 chips were independently lab tested and finalists and highly-commended shops had all achieved chips with a fat content of below nine per cent.<\/p>\n

Judges said that, while all finalists\u2019 chips were superb, Oceanz Seafood had the edge, noting: \u201cThe chips just tasted fantastic! The operators obviously used light, clean oil and drained the chips well, so it didn\u2019t dominate the flavour.\u201d<\/p>\n

Judges were also impressed that the chips were not salted, with a salt sachet provided instead to provide customers with a choice, and that the 330g portion size was stated on the menu board. Entrants were also judged on chip taste, quality, shop cleanliness and customer service and many customers provided testimonials about the great quality and taste and the friendly efficient staff. Some said that they go the extra distance to buy their fish and chips at the shop.<\/p>\n

Cooking great chips is in Daniel and Richard\u2019s genes. They worked in their parents\u2019 fish and chip shop through their teens and pursued other careers before returning to the industry – they took over the Silverdale shop three years ago. Richard said that high quality product and exceptional care of oil were vital to their great product.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery chip is different and every batch of chips is different, and you have to be aware of that and adjust your cooking methods accordingly,\u201d he said. \u201cAdhering to The Chip Group industry standards is really important.<\/p>\n

Giving a very good shake and bang gives much crisper, dryer chips. When they hear the banging our customers joke that we are panel beating our chips, but it makes all the difference to the end product.\u201d The shop also serves its chips up in cardboard trays, rather than wrapping them, which makes them easier to eat as well as reducing condensation and keeping the chips crisper.<\/p>\n

Judith Morley-John, Food Industry Nutritionist for the Heart Foundation, welcomed the fact that all competition participants were required to have undergone and have a current certificate for The Chip Group\u2019s free online industry training.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe impact of training was reflected in the lower chip fat content for the forty eight Highly Commended shops (7.8%) compared with 9.9% for the 18 regional finalists winners in the previous competition,\u201d said Ms Morley-John.<\/p>\n

Food educator and Chip Group Chair Glenda Gourley said that the competition was an excellent way to further raise awareness in the catering industry that, by following the industry standards you can achieve the most delicious chips with the lowest possible fat content.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reduction in fat content this time round is awesome,\u201d said Glenda. \u201cKiwis love hot chips and this gives customers confidence that the operators displaying a current Chip Group certificate really know what they are doing. The skill of the operator has a huge impact on the chip.\u201d<\/p>\n

The other five regional finalists were:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Auckland wide: Greenwoods Fresh Catch, Epsom<\/p>\n

\u2022 Waikato – Bay of Plenty: Hawkes Bay, Queen Vic Chippy, Cambridge<\/p>\n

\u2022 Manawatu – Wellington: Fish King Takeaways, Feilding<\/p>\n

\u2022 Nelson – Christchurch: Victory Square Fish and Chips, Nelson<\/p>\n

\u2022 Timaru \u2013 Southland: The Naked Chip, Waimate<\/p>\n

For further details of The Chip Group\u2019s free online training course on how to produce tasty hot chips with a lower fat content please visit www.chipgroup.co.nz.<\/p>\n

ENDS<\/p>\n

For more information, please contact:<\/p>\n

Kate Underwood Training and Education Manager, The Chip Group 022 066 8711 or [email protected] or Dan Walraven Ideas Shop 027 433 6373 or [email protected]<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Media release 25 September 2013 The Chip Group Ltd Oceanz Seafood in Silverdale scoops New Zealand\u2019s Best Chip Shop title Daniel and Richard Billington, owners of Oceanz Seafood in Silverdale, are officially king of the chippies, after it was named … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3730,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"kt_blocks_editor_width":""},"categories":[9,5,4],"tags":[18,12,13,16,11,19,20],"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":{"display_name":"Gemma Carroll","author_link":"https:\/\/thechipgroup.co.nz\/author\/gemma\/"},"comment_info":4,"category_info":[{"term_id":9,"name":"Press Releases","slug":"press-releases","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":9,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":1,"count":28,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":9,"category_count":28,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Press Releases","category_nicename":"press-releases","category_parent":1},{"term_id":5,"name":"Product News","slug":"product-news","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":5,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":1,"count":11,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":5,"category_count":11,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Product News","category_nicename":"product-news","category_parent":1},{"term_id":4,"name":"Training & Events","slug":"training-events","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":4,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":1,"count":43,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":4,"category_count":43,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Training & Events","category_nicename":"training-events","category_parent":1}],"tag_info":[{"term_id":18,"name":"chip champions","slug":"chip-champions","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":18,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":22,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":12,"name":"chips","slug":"chips","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":12,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":55,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":13,"name":"competition","slug":"competition","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":13,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":12,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":16,"name":"industry news","slug":"industry-news","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":16,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":42,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":11,"name":"Industry Standards","slug":"industry-standards","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":11,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":33,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":19,"name":"The Best Chip Shop Competition","slug":"the-best-chip-shop-competition","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":19,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":22,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":20,"name":"The Chip Group","slug":"the-chip-group","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":20,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":51,"filter":"raw"}],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":9,"label":"Press Releases"},{"value":5,"label":"Product News"},{"value":4,"label":"Training & Events"}],"post_tag":[{"value":18,"label":"chip champions"},{"value":12,"label":"chips"},{"value":13,"label":"competition"},{"value":16,"label":"industry news"},{"value":11,"label":"Industry Standards"},{"value":19,"label":"The Best Chip Shop Competition"},{"value":20,"label":"The Chip Group"}]},"yoast_head":"\n