Ballarat Seafoods co-owner Sally Maher says the key to keeping your calm at Christmas is to embrace the season and all it has to offer.
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The Eastwood Street shop is one of the busiest places in Ballarat on Christmas Eve, and in the lead-up, but with a reputation for calm, attentive service amid the craze of last-minute shopping.
“You’ve just got to be (calm),” Ms Maher said.
Just because we’re having a frantic day, doesn’t mean we want our customers to feel this.
“We still want to serve our customers with respect.
“We had one lady who said it was not Christmas without queuing out the door of Ballarat Seafoods.”
Working an effective Christmas is a system Ballarat Seafoods has finely-tuned the past 24 years, a factor Ms Maher said helped keep everything running smoothly.
Christmas orders were up at least 10 per cent ahead of the weekend. Ms Maher said the less-than-warm weather last week impacted pre-Christmas sales.
But they took the overall festive demand in their stride.
“If we don’t know our system and what to do by now it would never work,” Ms Maher said.
“All our seafood stays in boxes and on ice. It has to be kept a certain way to be at its freshest. We pack it on the day and that means calling on all our family and friends to jump in and help us out.”
The shop also relies on school leavers to join the team through the busiest period.
Ms Maher said the increasing trend towards seafood at Christmas tended to be the ease of preparations.
Most of what Ballarat Seafoods sells big at Christmas can be served on a platter.
Ms Maher has noticed more people foregoing traditions of time in the kitchen on Christmas Day to create meals that allowed more time with family and, hopefully, more relaxation.
Prawns are a popular buy – green, cooked or tails – as are oysters and calamari.
Whole fish like snapper, barramundi and salmon were also quick to cook.
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