It isn't a Canberra Christmas without a bowl of prawns or fresh oysters as suppliers prepare for the busiest time of the year.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The weather is expected to hit the high twenties on Christmas Day, likely meaning many families will be opting for cooler cuisines such as seafood.
Customers are already on the rise with seafood shops across the ACT reporting busy volumes of people despite increasing COVID cases.
Jay Boy Macadang is the manager of Best Seafood City in Belconnen and says their shop is prepared for the busiest time of year.
"Every year we increase our stock by 15 per cent to what the demand was last Christmas to make sure we never sell out of anything so customers can have that guarantee," Mr Macadang said.
"Every Christmas is exciting, this is the busiest week of the year alongside Easter so we're making sure to have as many staff on as possible.
"This shop gets a lot of customers coming through, last year the queue was extremely long so the next few days we're expecting the same to happen."
Mr Macadang has observed a range of seafood is in high demand for the Christmas period which he says will only continue to increase.
"Big favourites are cooked tiger prawns and cooked king prawns, they are always really popular as well as oysters and lobsters," Mr Macadang said.
"Almost everything is being purchased in high demand except for whole fish, so we're making sure stock is always well supplied."
READ MORE
Mr Macadang is not deterred by the Omicron variant impacting the business as it gets closer to Christmas Day.
"I think despite Omicron, it's only going to get busier because New South Wales is so bad some families might start reconsidering travel to Sydney so are more likely to celebrate their Christmas here," he said.
FishCo based in Fyshwick is also expecting high numbers of demand in the lead up to Christmas, with managing director John Fragopoulos saying calls asking for fresh stock comes through non-stop.
"We are taking orders for people because that's a popular way for people to organise their Christmas, but we recommend they come in a little bit early so they can try before they buy," Mr Fragopoulos said.
"People don't realise that different prawns have different flavours. Some are on the more sweet side while others are a bit salty, so it's good for people to come in and try our cooked prawns to see what they like best.
"We got our fresh shipment in on Wednesday, so Thursday is a great day for people to come into the shop, get in early and select the seafood that they want for Christmas.
"In particular, oysters will be selling out fast because the excess rain made supply this year a bit of an issue so people don't want to miss out by leaving it too late."
Mr Fragopoulos has found the shop is already getting increasing numbers of people coming through, as his staff have all hands on deck.
"Wednesday was like a good Saturday which means people are very eager for seafood," Mr Fragopoulos said.
"We'll be starting at 6am on Thursday and then 5am on Christmas Eve with over 30 staff so we are ready for the increasing rush over the coming days.
"We're also one of the coolest shops, with our temperature always set at 16 degrees so customers can feel refreshed when they come in during this hot weather.
"Overall we don't do what we do for the money, we do it efficiently and we do it so people can have a great experience."
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark canberratimes.com.au
- Download our app
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram