For the first time in the history of Birds Eye, a child will be featured as the Captain on a pack of the nation’s favourite Fish Fingers.

A well-deserved prize for seven-year-old budding chef, Tadhg, from Manchester, who entered Birds Eye’s nationwide competition looking for children aged 6 to 12 to submit their very own Birds Eye Fish Finger recipe, along with the inspiration behind their creation.

He will feature on limited edition packs of Birds Eye Fish Fingers in Iceland stores from February 2022.

Standing out from all the other competition entrants, Tadhg’s recipe, Fish Finger Tacos, shows just how versatile Fish Fingers can be. He used an array of exciting flavours and spices, putting a Mexican twist on the more traditional British food staple. Incredibly tasty and super simple to make, all you need to do – as per Tadhg’s recipe instructions – is cook the Fish Fingers using the on-pack instructions, warm your corn tacos in the oven, and serve with your favourite toppings! They’re great with a touch of paprika, and served with salsa, sour cream, iceberg lettuce and cheese; or, for a more sophisticated palate, you can try adding ingredients like coriander, avocado, and chilli for some heat.

Tadhg, who lives in Manchester, said: “I’m so excited to be Birds Eye’s new Mini Captain – I can’t wait to go in store and see my face on packs of Fish Fingers! They are my favourite on our ‘Taco Tuesday’ family nights. We change up the flavours and ingredients each week, although I love cheese as much as Fish Fingers so will always add that too! I really hope other people try my recipe and see how yummy it is.”

Partnering on this activity, Birds Eye and Iceland Stores, two of the nation’s most-loved frozen food brands, launched the competition together to inspire and encourage children to get creative with a mealtime staple. The aim is to inspire families across the nation to get their little ones involved in mealtimes, while showing them how fun and easy it can be to get more fish (and its nutritious benefits) into our children’s diets.

Sarah Stebbings, Senior Brand Manager for Fish Fingers at Birds Eye, said: “Birds Eye Fish Fingers are iconic and our consumers’ passion for thinking of new recipes to include them in certainly hasn’t slowed down over the years. For many, they bring back memories of their childhood, so it’s lovely to be able to get the next generation excited about them in such a creative way too. Especially as we know that 42% of children’s first taste of fish comes in the form of fish fingers[1]! Knowing the numerous benefits that fish offers, we’re always looking for new ways of encouraging families to eat more fish – as the NHS advises two portions of fish per week[2].

“We’re delighted to have Tadhg as our first-ever Mini Captain, as he’s created the perfect recipe to help parents engage their children at meal times and I look forward to seeing what other creations may come off of the back of this one.”

Andrew Staniland, Trading Director at Iceland Foods, added: “Birds Eye and Iceland are two iconic family brands and we’re proud to have worked with Birds Eye on this competition to find the first ever Mini Captain Birds Eye. It is really important to us that children eat a healthy and balanced diet and it’s fantastic to see kids getting involved in cooking – Tadhg’s recipe is a brilliant way to get more children into the kitchen, helping parents prep for dinner and we can’t wait to see Birds Eye and Iceland customers’ versions of the winning recipe.”

The limited-edition packs, featuring the new Mini-Captain, will be available in Iceland stores from February 2022. For the full Mini Captain experience, shoppers can turn to the back of the limited edition pack for Tadhg’s recipe inspiration and the full Fish Finger Taco’s recipe.

[1] Censuswide study of 2,023 parents between 16.07.2021 – 21.07.2021. Censuswide abides by and employs members of the Market Research Society which is based on the ESOMAR principles.

[2] https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/fish-and-shellfish-nutrition/