Cape Town - “Hake is absolutely our pride and joy,” says Ocean Basket.
The restaurant chain has been navigating the deep waters of bad publicity after a Daily Voice report in which a Cape Town man said his childen's hake fingers has actually been made of angelfish.
The story has had much play on social media and on talk radio stations.
Jean Sloane, Group Marketing Executive at Ocean Basket, went on Radio 702 on Monday night.
She said hake was the chain's “pride and joy ... We serve it with absolute passion. People know it so well, so there's no way we could confuse people and substitute it.”
Sloane said that the franchisees concerned might have used an offcut of angelfish.
“For us its really important that we train our waiters correctly to advise people that we have this situation, would you mind if we use that, or would you prefer hake?” she said.
On 702 on Tuesday night, Sloane insisted that the alleged use of angelfish in some Ocean Basket franchises was not a profit-driven decision.
Osman Parker, 41, had told the Daily Voice that five Ocean Basket restaurants served his children angelfish instead of the more expensive hake fingers advertised on the menu. And when he complained to the managers, they admitted selling him the fake hake.
Hake, at R60 a kilogram, costs twice as much as angelfish, which sells at R30 a kilo.
Parker, the manager of Giant Hyper in Epping, says at first he took it with a pinch of salt, but after five similar experiences, he felt Ocean Basket was ripping off people and should be taken to task for it.
Parker said he had eaten at Ocean Basket branches at N1 City, Waterfront, Canal Walk, Vangate Mall and just three weeks ago, during the flower festival in Vredenburg.
His four children ordered off the kiddies menu and complained because the “hake fingers looked and tasted weird”.
He said: “I did not want to fuss or anything, but my wife said it was not hake. She buys our food and was concerned as to what it might be. What if it’s something that could cause an allergic reaction?”
Parker said that when he confronted the managers, they admitted to using angelfish when they do not have hake in stock.
“You don’t do that to people,” an upset Parker said. “I do not want money or anything from them. They must be transparent and communicate with their customers. Give people the choice, don’t sell lies.”
Sloane told the Daily Voice that angelfish instead of hake had been sold to Parker. “Hake costs approximately R60/kg filleted while angelfish is R29.99/kg but that is for the whole fish. Filleting an angelfish provides a 50% yield, so it also works out to R60/kg.
“We believe angelfish may have been used to prevent food wastage since nuggets are created as a natural by-product of filleting. We are, however, concerned that angelfish was used, as Ocean Basket has a policy of using only hake or Basa in our nuggets. We assure you that this has been taken up with all the franchises mentioned.
“Ocean Basket imports and supplies 6 500 tons of seafood each year to stores globally. All of our stock is purchased from reputable suppliers.”
The company has apologised to Parker and offered him a R500 voucher in return.
IOL, Daily Voice