Ocean Basket CEO Grace Harding eager to close the seafood market gap in the UK – The Citizen

It would take some sort of talent – and chutzpah – to sell ice to Eskimos, but South Africa who wants to sell fish and chips to the British takes that marketing cheek to a new level. Grace Harding has both talent and chutzpah, energy consumed by the Duracell Bunny, but also a way to deal with challenges, including bringing her household name restaurant, Ocean Basket, to the home of the essential British meal. It’s much more than fish and chips, though, says Harding about the new Ocean Basket in Bromley. “We are accepting affordable, high quality, generous …

It would take some sort of talent – and chutzpah – to sell ice to Eskimos, but South Africa who wants to sell fish and chips to the British takes that marketing cheek to a new level.

Grace Harding has both talent and chutzpah, energy consumed by the Duracell Bunny, but also a way to deal with challenges, including bringing her household name restaurant, Ocean Basket, to the home of the essential British meal.

It’s much more than fish and chips, though, says Harding about the new Ocean Basket in Bromley.

“We are bringing affordable, high quality, generous portions of seafood to the Brits. There is a gap in the market. When it comes to UK seafood, you find fish and chips at one end of the spectrum and then restaurants on the market – and there is nothing in between that offers an affordable, relaxed, Mediterranean – style dining experience… ”

And, South Africans can retreat in ways that sometimes disturb starchy Britons.

Harding says Ocean Basket restaurants are not quiet places and the energy has opened the eyes of some of their English customers… as is the South African (and Mediterranean) method of sending prawns: “The UK consumer experiences ‘fancy’. seafood experience. We encourage eating with your hands, peeling the terry shrimp and crunching the shells. It seems like a wild experience. ”

Slowly, the Brits are embracing Med ‘s experience in Bromley, as they did with Nando’s, another successful South African food export that showed the UK consumer how to eat peri – peri chicken in a vibrant environment.

What was interesting – and enjoyable – for Harding and his US staff who were temporarily on secondment to help start operations in the UK was the incredible fan – like support from South African expats.

“They were our first guests to greet us with open hands and so much nostalgia. Some even went back to hug our US backyard specialists. The town is far from them and Ocean Basket reminds them of the town… ”

Harding clearly enjoys the challenge facing the company’s invasion of the United Kingdom – and has secured a second site, in Kingston – which is due to open in late September 2022.

The US is a sight too, she says. Is it empire building? No, no.

“We are a challenging brand and have ambitions to bring our distinctive spirit and offering to the world, bring the concept to a new audience and, above all, seek continuous improvement.”

Ocean Basket focuses on protein alone (seafood) and the magic is: “It keeps us unique, and we are always on the lookout for a variety of sustainable species to add to the menu.”

This push for success may, it may seem, be due to her childhood – after all, spending time in a Jewish children’s home in Johannesburg meant that she was being abandoned.

Orphan, perhaps. But she says the opposite is true. In a simple way, Harding says that she and her sister spent seven months in the institution when her mother was hospitalized with mental health problems and were unable to care for the girls.

“I have visited her many times and pointed out that mental health issues are real and also often misunderstood…”

From her mother, who was born in Egypt and spoke several languages, she inherited her creativity and the need to work with people, she says. From her father, an immigrant from Lithuania, she inherited her entrepreneurial prowess… as well as her ability to deal with the hard side of life.

“He was a great salesman – a real smous, if you will – but he also flew a little close to the wind, which meant that the sheriff of the court often visited us, trying to repossess our belongings. That’s where I learned to negotiate. ” She adds:

“The brand and I were inspired by the founders of Ocean Basket and its mother, Liza Lazarides. I feel at home in charge of this incredible brand for her. ”

Prior to Ocean Basket, Harding ran its own employee engagement consultancy. She says: “In the world of technology, AI, Metaverse and these systems, there is an even greater focus on the need for people to get things done. We are in the business of the people – we only prepare and serve food. Human skills are no longer soft skills – they are the hardest skills ever. ”

Harding also played a major role in setting up an independent company for the restaurant business in May 2020, pushing hard to ease Covid’s early restrictions, but more so focusing on raising the sit – down restaurant industry.

She does not believe that the industry has lost money: “It was not lost in my eyes – it did not come in. The last two years have been an incredible education for our industry and our business. I see it as an investment in pause, thinking, focusing and building even more things. ”

As a successful businesswoman, Harding is often asked to speak in public… but sometimes wonders if she is typing. The senior men in the Ocean Basket business certainly believe, “don’t look at me as Grace the woman, but as Grace the CEO.”

One thing that no one who works with her can doubt is her passion for the brand.

Sitting down for lunch at the Ocean Basket in Rosebank, she proudly displays old and new dishes, occasionally popping up to chat with the staff.

It sounds like a cliché, but if the secret to happiness is doing what you love and loving what you do, then Grace Harding’s enthusiastic smile and laughter creates it.

But then, she’s up and away. People together, making bargains. Other places to conquer.