The same slab, to twenty pubs, restaurants and cafés from Barry to Cardiff, on the van before nine, with the price sheet by text every morning
Wholesale to pubs and restaurants
About twenty kitchens get the van before nine, Tuesday to Saturday: pubs in the Vale, restaurants in Penarth and Cardiff, two cafés, a hotel. The same fish as the counter from the same boats, filleted and portioned to spec, with the day's price sheet by text at half past six, a £120 minimum, and a thirty-day account after three months.
Fish for a kitchen is a different job from fish for a counter: a chef wants the same portion on Tuesday as on Saturday, wants to know by half past six what is on the sheet, and wants the van before service prep starts. That is the shape of the trade round, and it goes to about twenty kitchens between Barry and Cardiff on a van that leaves Milford Haven at half past four.
What the kitchens buy: cod, haddock and hake fillets portioned to a weight; whole bass, bream and plaice; monkfish tails; mussels by the five kilos; dressed crab for the sandwiches; smoked haddock and salmon from the kiln; prawns; stock by the five litres; and, for the chefs who want it, the odd box of whatever the boats landed that nobody planned for, at a price that reflects it. We fillet to spec, skin on or off, pin-boned, bagged by portion, with the boat and the landing day on the invoice and the temperature logged at the door.
How it works: the day's sheet by text at half past six, when the van has left the market and we know what we have; orders by text or email by ten the night before for anything you need guaranteed, or by seven for what is on the sheet; £120 minimum per drop; cash or card for the first three months and a thirty-day account after that. We do not supply supermarkets, central kitchens or anything that would need a second van. Twenty kitchens, done properly, is the business.
What you get
- The same fish as the counter, from the same nine boats
- Filleted and portioned to spec, bagged, pin-boned
- The day's price sheet by text at 6:30am
- The van before nine, Tuesday to Saturday, £120 minimum
- Thirty-day account after three months
- Boat, landing day and temperature on every invoice
What it costs
Trade prices about fifteen per cent under the counter, texted at 6:30am each day. £120 minimum per drop. Orders by text or email by 10pm for the morning; what the boats land decides the sheet. Today’s board has every line with its price and whether it has gone; the order page takes a Friday box, a counter order or a seat at fish school.
Questions about wholesale
Can a home cook buy at trade prices?
No; the sheet is for registered food businesses with an account. The counter list is the counter list, and it is fair.
What if the boats land nothing?
It happens in a storm. The sheet says so at half past six, and you get the honest alternatives: what is in the cold room from the day before, what we can get from Brixham by eleven, or nothing. We would rather send nothing than send something tired.
Fish and chips at home this Friday, from this morning's boat.
A box for two, four or six: haddock or cod landed that morning, batter mix, blanched chips, mushy peas, tartare, a lemon and the card. Order by Thursday 6pm, collect Friday four till seven or have it delivered within five miles. The same form takes a counter order, a lobster, or a seat at fish school.