Young's Seafood - reformulation case studies

“Traditional battered fish is not usually regarded as a healthy food, but after two years of hard work we have achieved less than 5% saturated fat for Chip Shop which at last means this delicious traditional dish can enjoyed by everyone as part of a healthy diet”

Charlotte Broughton, Marketing Controller, Young's

The programme began in 2005 and took two years to develop.
The first challenge was to achieve a healthier profile for Chip Shop whilst maintaining all the delicious traditional flavour and texture.
Supported by advertising to emphasise its healthier positioning, sales of Chip Shop have grown by 18% since it was relaunched.
Fat reductions achieved so far include a 40% reduction for Young's Chip Shop and a 75% reduction for Young's Scampi.
Altogether a total of 21 different products have been redeveloped across four processing lines.

Young's is the largest manufacturer of seafood products in the UK. This includes Chip Shop – the UK's best-selling range of traditional battered fish products.

Young's chip shop fish pack In 2005, Young's began a reformulation programme to reduce the saturated fat in its products. The initial target was to achieve a significant reduction in the saturated fat level of Chip Shop without compromising the traditional taste and texture which have helped make this range so successful.

A multi-disciplinary team was appointed to look into ways to reduce saturated fat levels and significant recipe and process development work was required. Changes had to be made to the frying oil used to prepare the products so an oil blend with a better nutritional profile was sourced.

The coating system and process conditions also required significant recipe reformulation. Over a two year period, more than 100 trials were conducted, and in 2007 the revised products were ready to be launched. Altogether a range of 21 different products were redeveloped across four processing lines.

Consumers of Young's Chip Shop are very loyal, regular buyers. During the trial period extensive research was carried out to ensure that the reduction in saturated fat would not compromise the product's success. In fact, with the support of a marketing campaign to emphasise the healthier profile of the range the relaunch resulted in a significant uplift in sales.

Since the relaunch in mid 2007, Young's has removed around 500 tonnes of saturated fat from the Chip Shop range. An ongoing saturated fat reduction programme continues to be a priority. In 2009 Young's classic breaded scampi re-launched with a massive 75% reduction in saturated fat and now has just 1.3% fat.