Haddon Salt

Salt next opened "Salt's English Fish & Chips Shop", initially offering "take home" service at 813 Bridgeway in Sausalito, California in August 1965.[13][10]

Salt's wife Grace managed their first fish and chip shop in Sausalito, while Salt opened another store in Berkeley. It was reported that the Salts planned "to establish a number of franchised shops in various locations throughout the Bay Area and perhaps even more extensively".[14] By 1966, the Sausalito store was selling fish and chips in a checked paper basket and encouraging customers to "eat fish as you walk along... very common in England".[15]

H. Salt, esq. Authentic English Fish & Chips Shoppe logo c. 1967

By 1967, Salt owned two more fish and chips stores, one in Sunnyvale and one in Santa Cruz. They were now named "H. Salt, esq. Authentic English Fish and Chips Shoppe".

Salt was the sole United States and Canadian sales agent for Henry Nuttall fish and chip frying ranges and related equipment. Salt specified Nuttall equipment for his franchised fish and chip stores.[1] Salt often referred to the brand during news interviews. "...I believe you must have the proper cooking equipment. We insist on special stoves to get the heat up properly and even enough to turn out decent fish and chips. We import our stoves from Henry Nuttall in Britain, a master at the art of making frying ranges".[2] The Nuttall ranges used by Salt were 18 feet long and had glass fronts so patrons could watch their orders being cooked.[16] Salt said the ranges were "the heart of the operation".[17]

An H. Salt Esq. franchise in 1968 cost approximately $22,000 (equivalent to $185,137 in 2022). A prospective franchisee had to have $10,000 to $12,000 in cash and could finance the rest. Salt reasoned "A man may walk away from a $5,000 investment if things get tough, but he probably has $10,000 only once in his life and he'll fight to protect it". The average H. Salt Esq. store at the time made $100,000 per year and a franchisee netted an average of $25,000 annually before taxes.[18]

However, Salt's franchise fee structure required more from a franchisee than a simple five percent franchise fee on gross sales. Salt pointed out that five percent would not cover his ongoing overhead. "We are spending more than five percent on marketing and promotion and we are marketing oriented". In addition to a franchise fee, Salt required franchisees to purchase all of their raw products and equipment from him. He said "After all, franchising is just distributing", and he pointed out that his insistence on offering consistently high-quality food required the high-quality ingredients specified by him. A franchisee agreed to purchase everything their store needed from Salt.[18]

Salt understood he was dealing with potential American customers who had little experience with fish and chips. He knew he had to offer the highest quality product and experience to convert the public. He said he "must be frank in stating that there might be a wait for an order simply because we fry on request to assure the product is piping hot which is the only way to enjoy fish and chips". Customer service was important to Salt as well. "We impress upon our proprietors the importance of genuinely caring for the interests of our customers".[2]

Salt's stores used cod from Iceland and haddock from Boston, Massachusetts.[3] He said "You need the frigid waters of the Atlantic to turn the trick. That's why we get our fish from Iceland".[2] Salt hired Captain Ingolfur Moller as the chain's quality control coordinator who monitored the quality of the fish caught by the Icelandic fishing fleets.[21] Salt said "the fish must be treated with loving care".[17][18]

Salt spent "several weeks" training each owner at the outset of learning his franchise operation.[2] "The making of fish and chips is really considered an art in Great Britain and we are determined it should remain an art in America".[3] "It is a delicate product that must be made well or not at all".[17] Salt's attention to detail extended to the kind and quality of malt vinegar he specified, Penistone Pure Malt Vinegar, brewed by British Vinegars in Penistone, England.[22][23]

When Salt decided to start franchising his fish and chips stores, marketing advisers suggested he use "a real English name such as 'British' or 'London', or 'Picadilly' or 'Old English'" to name his brand. He disagreed, saying "I turned thumbs down on the idea. In England, as you may know, a good shop carries the name of the merchant. A man who takes pride in the product he is offering the public and who personally stands behind it. It is not a matter of ego but of responsibility to your customers... Therefore, I insisted my name be on the sign".[2]

Salt wanted his stores to remind American customers of England but made concessions in their design. "They [the shops] are 'English' to the point where it will not conflict with the food service Americans have come to expect. We even accept British and American currency, but we refuse to clutter them up".[2] Service personnel behind the glass windowed store fryer counters wore uniforms that reminded customers of traditional British street vendors – red or white aprons, white caps, and vintage white maid's caps.

In 1969, KFC heavily promoted H. Salt Esq. franchise opportunities in newspaper and magazine print ads. Comparing KFC's having built 2,400 units since 1957, the company claimed they had "invested capital in opening and operating over 400 [H.Salt Esq.] units in 18 markets". The ads promised franchisees would receive "the proven ingredients they need for profitable operation" with "management and operational guidance by the world's most experienced franchise operators, exclusive fish-fry equipment, a quality-controlled source of Icelandic filets, secret batter ingredients and expert training to make your employees master fish fryers".[28] Current and former KFC franchisees were given "first crack" at purchasing H. Salt Esq. franchises.[29]

KFC increased the fee to franchise an H. Salt Esq. Fish & Chips store from $20,000 to $90,000 (equivalent to $718,203 in 2022). The first store to open under the terms of the new agreement was in Louisville, Kentucky. When an H. Salt Esq. store opened in Dayton, Ohio in November 1969, the store saw a first-day total of 2,300 orders of fish and chips.[27]

In 1970 the footprint of the new H. Salt Esq. stores were expanded to include 34 seats. "We found that a lot of people like to sit down to eat, rather than carry out, so we will be taking this approach in the new units".[30]

In 1971, KFC pared back additions to the H. Salt fish and chips menu. Salt said, "We tried shrimp... but it spoiled the taste of the fish". After Salt left the company in 1972, KFC once again added shrimp and other seafood to the H. Salt Fish & Chips menu.

KFC quickly started a buy-back program of franchised H. Salt Esq. stores in late 1969, quickly purchasing previously franchised units. By November 1969, KFC owned 464 H. Salt Esq. outlets.[27]

One year later, KFC recommenced offering franchises for existing and new H. Salt Esq. locations. Salt was quoted as preferring franchised operations over the company store model. "The franchisee does a better job... We made a mistake with so many company stores, but that is changed".[31]

"The Colonel's", a new small-scale franchise store format initiated by KFC in 1971 was meant for communities of less than 10,000. The stores sold H. Salt Fish & Chips as well as Kentucky Fried Chicken, hamburgers, milkshakes, soft ice cream, and "tasty sandwiches created by Colonel Sanders".[34][35]

External video
Remarks by Haddon Salt, reflecting on his career as the founder and spokesperson of H. Salt Fish & Chips

"All my life, everything I touched turned to gold. Then suddenly, it went the other way. They weren't selling chicken, they were selling Colonel Sanders. They weren't selling fish, they were selling me. They really didn't grasp what the idea was. I was trying to get middle-class people into a business and give them the joy of self-employment. They [KFC] didn't get that. They worked on me big time, they didn't work on the company. They started lowering the standards of the quality of the fish, and so the (sales) volumes of the restaurants went down and people stopped buying franchises, so that was the end of it. And it didn't grow anymore. I don't feel responsible. I don't feel guilty. I did sell out".[5]

Salt was an early musician, teaching himself the fiddle and the saxophone "for independence money". He felt he wasn't being paid enough while working for his father. He played "semi-professionally in dance bands from the age of 12" and was a member of the Royal Marines Band Service.[36] He joined the Lake County (California) Symphony Orchestra in 1995, playing the violin.[37] Salt owns and plays a Zeta Music Systems electric violin.[38]

In the 1970s, Salt developed an interest in cutting horses, becoming a breeder, rider, and supporter of the breed and associated equine activities in California and across America. In 1971, Salt's quarter horse "Joe Duhan", ridden by Matlock Rose ranked fifth in the Open Horse category of that year's National Cutting Horse Association World Championship.[39] Salt's horse "Joy Joe", ridden by NCHA Hall of Fame rider Leon Harrel was the 1974 winner of the National Cutting Horse Futurity.[40]

Salt allowed various NCHA Championship competitions to be held on his 350-acre "H. Salt Esquire Ranch" in Sonoma, California. The ranch featured an indoor, full-size horse show arena.[41] In 1974, a Pacific Coast Cutting Horse Association competition saw 20 of "the nation's top horses and riders" compete for a total of $20,000 (equivalent to $159,601 in 2022) in prize money.[42]

In 1975, Salt was president of Mirasol Corporation and a partner in Salt-Ballard Properties. Both businesses were involved in land development in San Rafael, California, and Mazatlan, Mexico.[43]

Salt has had a continued interest in improving fish stocks through farming and conservation. In 1970 he said "It is difficult to order good fish in American restaurants".[36] Salt suggested propagation practices in use at the time in Iceland would allow farming codfish "on a sustained yield basis". He also decried the practice of trawling codfish on long voyages saying the practice "impairs the flavor". Salt preferred the practice of line-caught fishing from smaller boats which allowed for faster freezing of a catch.[44] In 1970, Salt said the fishing industry is "in deplorable condition" and was "dying". He helped establish and finance legislative lobby groups to help the industry.[45] He created two "healthy and successful" fisheries, including Sea Fresh Fisheries, Inc. in 1978, based in Borrego Springs, California.[6]