Voting Starts In Chip Shop Competition

MEDIA RELEASE
31 July 2007

Voting Starts In Chip Shop Competition

Chip shops across the country are firing up their vats, as New Zealanders get ready to vote for their favourite chippie in the Crisco Oils Best Chip Shop Competition 2007.

Starting tomorrow (1 August) and running through to the end of September, chip lovers can vote via text messaging to help decide which chip shop makes the nation’s tastiest, crispiest and healthiest chips.

Goodman Fielder Commercial General Manager Sales and Marketing, Graeme Laurence, said public text voting will determine 15 regional finalists selected from each of the Competition’s six regions across the country.

“They will then be visited by a mystery judge who will send a chip sample away for fat analysis, and judge the shops against a range of criteria including customer service and shop cleanliness,” Graeme said.

“Since the competition was launched in the 90s, we have seen it grow, and move with the times. This year, we’re continuing with the text voting and are confident of record votes.”

Each chip shop entered into the competition will display a four or five digit code instore which customers simply text to 4554.

“Customers will only be able to vote once, therefore, they need to make sure that their vote counts.”

This year, regional leaderboards will also be displayed and regularly updated on the Competitions’ official website - www.bestchipshop.co.nz.

Graeme said the Competition is an initiative of the Chip Group - an industry collaboration that has been in place for almost a decade.

“The group, which includes The Heart Foundation of New Zealand has been working together to lower the fat content of New Zealanders’ favourite takeaway meal.”

“The judges will, therefore, be looking for chips that have been cooked using the Heart Foundation’s recommended frying techniques, which can reduce the fat content of chips by 20 percent.”

Heart Foundation nutritionist, Judith Morley-John, said the Heart Foundation’s good frying techniques include: using thick, straight-cut chips, which absorb less fat than crinkle-cuts or shoestrings; cooking at 175 -180°C and, draining the cooked chips correctly – commonly referred to as the ‘shake, bang and hang’ method.

“Each year 110,000 tonnes of chips are consumed in New Zealand, which equals seven million serves of chips eaten each week,” she said.

“If all shops used the recommended techniques, we could potentially remove over 2,500 tonnes of fat from the national food supply.”
The Crisco Best New Zealand Chip Shop Competition 2007 is the country’s only national chip shop competition and is this year supported by Goodman Fielder, Huhtamaki, Bakels, Food2Go Magazine, McCain, Moffat, Mr Chips, NZARFD, Potato Growers of New Zealand, Premo Filtration, Southern Hospitality and the Heart Foundation.

As the main sponsor, Goodman Fielder is supporting the event under the new Crisco Oils brand.

The grand national winner is expected to be announced in November.

-ends-

© Scoop Media