At the recent launch of its fish sticks product, executives of Jamaica Broilers subsidiary, Best Dressed Foods, stated openly (to no one’s surprise) that the impending Easter period was a major factor in the timing of the introduction.

Best Dressed Foods, a major supplier to the quick service restaurant trade here and overseas, as well as to individual consumers, was simply acknowledging what its commercial customers and indeed, the nation, has long recognised: at Easter, fish reigns atop the food chain.

Motivated primarily by Lenten commitments to abstain from land-based animal proteins, Jamaicans traditionally consume a great deal more fish in the period from Ash Wednesday through Easter Monday.

This despite the nature of fish as a premium item, a status solidified by the relative scarcity brought on by Hurricane Ivan last September. A number of the quick-service operators acknowledged that they had faced increases in the cost of their supplies of fish and other foods, but had held back on passing these costs on to consumers.

While most of the fast food chains have always had some form of fish on their menus, efforts to market and promote fish as part of the fast food menu have picked up over the last four or five years.

Island Grill marketing manager Erica Hanson states that the chain is using this Easter holiday to launch two new menu items: jerk barbecue fish sandwich (with the restaurant chain’s proprietary sauce) and what it dubs escoveitch fish and chips combo.

As a further concession, the chain is also offering, on a trial basis, Diet Ting through its soda fountains. Prior to this occasion, Hanson pointed out, the manufacturer (Pepsi Jamaica) only offered the diet version of the drink in plastic bottles.

Stephanie Treasure of Burger King said the company has had a fish menu since its inception, but started using Jamaican tilapia in 2000 (the first food franchise operating in Jamaica to do so).

Specially for Lent, Burger King is promoting its spicy BK Big Fish, which adds a special spicy sauce (on top), to the customary tangy tartar sauce, and fresh lettuce, all served on what the BK executive touted as another new find: the corn-dusted bun.

The new bun will also dress-up the company’s long-time staple fish sandwich. Fish also figures on the breakfast menu, in the form of the escoveitch fish and bammy platter.

Tastee has entered the fray with its coco bread fish sandwich, a marine variation on that other fast food staple, the patty and coco bread.

Leading chicken purveyors KFC, which recently notched 30 years in Jamaica, has also renewed the offering of fish at its 28 stores, with two fish combos.

The fish frenzy is another index of the extent to which the quick-service chains have ingrained themselves in the minds of consumers, as work patterns and household food consumption continue to mimic those of North America. The traditional home-prepared fish meal (even with the convenience of fish sticks) may not be in any danger of displacement, but the increased emphasis speaks to a growing predilection for the ready-to-eat version.