A food name change that makes sense

Orange roughy, previously known as red roughy or Chilean sea bass (Patagonian toothfish) somehow took off with name changes and were marketing to the verge of collapse. Both fish develop slowly so the stocks have no time to recover in any normal business cycle. Funny how these fish live and die on their schedule and not the schedule of fish wholesalers.

Now one retailer in the UK is playing the name change game to divert buyers from cod, another troubled fish stock, to pollock. For the Brits, it's the fish that you pass along to the cat but in France, where anything that swims, slithers, crawls, walks or generally moves is eaten, it's appreciated as a tasty fish and goes by the name of colin. We all know that the food in France is better than the food in the UK so the retailer is promoting a change from "fish and chips" (which uses cod) to "colin and chips" to avoid the pollock name.

The latest rebranding exercise follows that of the humble pilchard, which was rechristened the Cornish sardine by the local industry in an effort to regenerate the region's faltering economy. The campaign transformed an unfashionable tinned meal-of-last-resort into a popular national favourite.

Alison Austin, environment manager at Sainsbury's, said it was time to make pollack more appealing to British shoppers: "At Sainsbury's we're passionate about sustainable sourcing and protecting dwindling fish stocks. We want to help highlight that there are species to eat other than cod and haddock, which are just as tasty and often cheaper. Many people have said that they can't even tell the difference in taste between cod or pollack, so we urge everyone to try 'colin and chips' on a Friday."

Austin said that if Britons bought as much UK-sourced pollack as the French did, it could make a big difference in saving cod.

The chain's internal research showed that shoppers interested in pollack were embarrassed to have to ask for it by name. Celebrity chefs have lent their support to the fish, saying its relatively bland taste makes it versatile in recipes.

Pilchard, known to others as sardines, are actually very, very tasty. I grew up thinking of those revolting tins that my dad would eat when we were on the water. I've since discovered the beauty of fresh sardines cooked on the grill and can think of few fish that I would rather eat in the summer.