It’s the U.K. food stereotype and the Friday night tradition for families across the country but the nation’s beloved fish and chips are under threat.
Just like the French baguette, which itself is seeing huge cost increases in its raw materials (flour, energy, petrol), so too is the cost of the humble chip across the U.K.
Many fish and chip shop owners have already been forced to raise prices during the pandemic because of inflation but now they are worried that they might not survive another rise. The New York Times reported that out of 10,000 shops across the country, as many as 3,000 might close.
The cost of gas and electricity is increasing rapidly and the war in Ukraine has also put pressure on the price of fish. The sanctions imposed and the plans to clamp down on Russian fish imports have made North Sea fish harder to find and more expensive.
What’s more, Ukraine and Russia are big sunflower oil producers and even the potato is being threatened by higher prices for fertilisers.
Andrew Crook, the president of the National Federation of Fish Friers told The New York Times that “my industry is directly affected by the Ukraine issue because all our four main ingredients are directly affected, and we use a lot of them.” He was referring to fish, oil, flour (for batter) and potatoes.
It’s a dire situation for what was once seen as a very good economic bet for small restauranteurs and family businesses–after all, fish and chips were so engrained in British culture that the government never rationed them during World War Two, as reported by the BBC. That maintaining supplies of this comfort food was crucial to keeping up morale during tough times.
Fish and chips in their current form date from the 1870s, as the industrial revolution allowed for the invention of steam-trawling boats, ice machines and a wider supply of rail links to bring abundant supplies of fish from the North Sea to England.
The meal gained a footing as it fed workers across London and Manchester in factories and mills and some of the freshest fish in London can still be found at Billingsgate market, arriving the same way as it did in 1850.
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April 13, 2022 at 01:51AM
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U.K. Fish And Chips Under Threat - Forbes
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