The longstanding seafood trade relationship between Iceland and the United Kingdom is taking on renewed importance as rising fish prices put pressure on the British fish and chip sector.
Speaking at a Taste of Iceland event in London recently, National Federation of Fish Friers (NFFF) President Andrew Crook said U.K. fish and chip businesses need Icelandic seafood supply, drawing a direct parallel with the role the sector played in maintaining demand for Icelandic fish during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We need you now,” Crook said at the event. “You’ve really stepped up and kept the fish supply and kept producing fillets, which is what my sector needs. Without you, we’d really be struggling this year.”
The event marked the first London edition of Taste of Iceland – a wider cultural program designed to showcase Icelandic food, culture, and creativity.
Iceland’s newly appointed Ambassador to the United Kingdom Thórdís Kolbrún Reykfjörð Gylfadóttir said the relationship between the two countries extends well beyond trade.
“We are excellent friends,” she said. “Our two countries share values, interests, and a lot of other things. We also live in a time where we need our friends, and we want to nurture and take care of good friends – through politics, through business, through culture and creative industries, and through people-to-people relations.”
She also emphasized the particular importance of the marine sector to Iceland.
“Coming from another island nation, sustainable marine stewardship isn’t just an industry for us,” she said. “It’s fundamental to our economic identity and heritage as well.”
She said Taste of Iceland provided an opportunity to strengthen those connections, with the event bringing together leaders from the Icelandic seafood sector and U.K. partners.
Crook, meanwhile, stressed that the quality of raw materials remains particularly important as U.K. fish and chip businesses face higher costs.
“Consumers are less forgiving when they’re paying more money, and that’s what we’re able to deliver,” he said.
The importance of the relationship between the two countries was also emphasized by Aman Dhesi, the co-owner of The Scrap Box in York, U.K., which was the winner of the 2026 Fish and Chip Awards' Takeaway of the Year award.
Dhesi said a recent NFFF-backed trip to Iceland changed his understanding of the product he handles every day.
“Whenever we open a box of cod or haddock in our shop, it’s just amazing to now know the story and the process, and the importers and the exporters, and the fishermen and the communities, and how big the industry is for Iceland and the U.K.,” he said.
Dhesi added that visiting fishing vessels and witnessing the technology used to improve the product gave him a better appreciation of the production and processing behind the fish reaching U.K. shops.
“It’s great for us to know that you guys care so much, and care about the future and protecting it, and care about the quality,” he said.
Clearly communicating provenance has been found to help draw in customers to the struggling fish and chip sector, with recent research conducted by the Norwegian Seafood Council (NSC) suggesting that 76 percent of U.K. consumers find dishes and ingredients with an origin story appealing, opening opportunities for fish and chip shops to turn product sourcing into a narrative.
Nevertheless, price remains an issue, and with some whitefish prices at historical highs, many shops have been forced to raise menu prices. In response, Crook told SeafoodSource earlier this year that customers have had a tendency to underestimate the realities facing operators, and some have walked away from the category as a result.
"I paid GBP 323 [USD 429, EUR 377] for an 18-kilogram box last week. You simply can't maintain your margins," he said. "Fish and chips has probably doubled in price over the last five or six years. In my village, people understand they're paying for quality, but elsewhere, they might look at a GBP 12 [USD 16, EUR 14] fish supper and think it's expensive."
