The Big Blue fish and chip shops in Wilmslow and Grappenhall have become the first in Cheshire to achieve Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification.
The Big Blue chippies now sell fish from an MSC certified sustainable source with cod and haddock soon to join MSC certified South African hake on the menu. All of these feel-good fishy suppers carry a blue MSC ecolabel next to them on the menu.
Proprietor Phil Geary explained: "We take pride in making sure that our customers have the best choice of fish available to them. We felt it was the correct thing to do to make a positive contribution to the future of fish stocks by undertaking Marine Stewardship Council certification to show our customers that the fish and chips that they buy from us come from a certified sustainable source.
"We source locally where we can so that we can support fellow local businesses. Not only that but the quality in Cheshire of products like the pies and barmcakes is fantastic. It's a little difficult to stay local though when it comes to seafood. Although a lot of our fish specials come from local shores we source hake from South Africa and cod and haddock from Norway and Iceland and now we're proud to say that it's sustainable too."
With the issues of sustainable fishing more and more in people's minds, The Big Blue are joining a small but ever growing group of chippies across the UK that are committed to making the classic British dish a certified sustainable one.
Hanna Arcaro, foodservice manager at the MSC said "Fish and chips has to be the heart and soul of fish eating in this country and Phil and his team have really pushed the boat out by getting not one but two chippies certified at the same time. I hope that their customers will enjoy their new certified sustainable choices for many years to come. Let's hope that having two Cheshire chippies achieve MSC certification will encourage many more to follow suit!"
