Fish & Chips is a long standing British Tradition and is regarded as one of the top takeaway choices in the country.
It is surprising in this modern day with the emergence of Takeaway greats such as McDonalds, Burger King and KFC there is still a strong market for Fish & Chips with around 380 million portions being sold each year, this works out to a staggering 6t x portions per person for everyone in Britain.
The Fish & Chips Market however is now facing a big crisis according to the National Federation of Fish Friers (NFFF).
It is estimated that a third of the Fish & Chip shops in the UK in just the next 12 months as owners struggle to keep afloat due to unprecedented cost increases as the result of the COVID pandemic and the Cost of Living increases and this has recently been further exacerbated with the conflict that has arisen in Ukraine.
Not only are Fish & Chip Shop Owners seeing utility cost increases, they are also price increases on Supplies.
The NFFF has reported that Cod has increased in price by 75% and Haddock by 81% since October 2021, there has also been an increase of 120% in the price of Mushy Peas and 40% for batter. They have also reported that price increases are being seen on Cooking Oil, Fats and packaging materials such as wrapping paper.
It is thought with the invasion of Ukraine this will lead to further price increases and there will be shortages of Fish supplies where this is being imported from Russia.
All of this paints a gloomy future for the Industry and some Industry leaders feel that the government need to do more to protect this British Tradition.