Fish is the Dish celebrates three years of encouraging the nation to eat more fish

This month, Fish is the Dish, the consumer facing brand developed by Seafish, is celebrating its third birthday with some big plans which will run for the remainder of the year.

Fish is the Dish, which was set up to encourage the nation to eat more seafood more often, provides users with fun and educational information about the benefits of eating different types of fish. The brand balances advice on health, nutrition, fish species and cooking with more exciting elements including competitions and seasonal and fun recipes, such as ‘mackerel mummies’ and ‘spooky witch fingers’ for Halloween.

Working with leading nutritionists and the British Nutrition Foundation, Fish is the Dish has developed easy to follow meal plans and creative recipes designed to entice more people to cook seafood at home. Jamie Oliver can be listed among its fans, recently lending his support to the brand during National Seafood Week by retweeting a tasty Sea Bream dish to his 4.06 million followers.

The Fish is the Dish digital campaign has grown year on year and the website itself recently reached over 50,000 unique visitors per month and more than one million website page views per year. With a growing social media presence on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and email communities, Fish is the Dish has cemented its position as the go to resource for a family’s fish related needs.

Since its launch, innovative engagement methods have helped Fish is the Dish to grow in stature, with popular campaigns drawing in new audiences, including mums looking for weaning advice and health conscious individuals interested in learning more about vitamin D and omega-3. While the Fish is the Dish team primarily work to promote seafood consumption in the UK, they also deal with international requests, some from as far afield as Australia and Mexico, to share their knowledge and expertise.

Fish is the Dish are currently running their omega-3 ‘Feed Your Mind’ campaign which typifies the approach that’s been adopted by the team across the board. Through research, Fish is the Dish found that UK adults understand the importance of omega-3 in the diet, but need help ensuring that they get the right amount often enough.
In order to tackle the issue, a multi-platform engagement strategy was designed which resulted in competitions, new videos and blog posts, and the development of recipes rich in omega-3, developed in partnership with Juliette Kellow, one of the UKs leading nutritionists.

Education is another area where Fish is the Dish takes the lead on behalf of Seafish. Earlier this year, an education resource pack that supports primary school teachers to deliver healthy eating lessons tied into the national curriculum was made available to Primary Schools throughout England, Scotland and Wales and will soon be rolled out to Primary Schools in Northern Ireland. The packs are designed to encourage cooking and tasting activities, whilst teaching children about different species of fish as part of a healthy balanced diet.

Heather Middleton, Marketing Manager at Seafish who leads the Fish is the Dish campaign said: “Getting the message across about eating more seafood as part of a healthy diet is vital if we are to maintain a healthy population in the UK. While we primarily look to get that message out via online engagement, it is sometimes the face-to-face contact that reminds you of how worthwhile this exercise is.

“The positive impact of our work in schools for instance was brought into sharp focus when I visited a Peterhead Primary School with skipper Jimmy Buchan. Having undertaken a fishing-related project, the children could not only tell us 50 different types of seafood they could eat but also that seafood was good for their hearts, brains and bodies.
“If our primary school children know about the benefits of eating seafood, there is hope for generations to come. Our job is to continue to work even harder to convince people to eat more seafood more often.”

Fish is the Dish has increased engagement with audiences since 2011, reaching a record high of 51 000 unique monthly visitors to the website in September 2014.
Fish is the Dish in numbers:
• one million recipes views
• 500 thousand recipe leaflets
• 30 thousand weaning books
• Six thousand education packs
• And of course…825 fish slices from #fishslicetuesday, competitions and events!