They have weathered the storms of Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic, and are fighting the tide of rising inflation, but thousands of Britain’s fish and chip shops could be sunk by the war in Ukraine.
At Captain’s, in the seaside resort of Brighton on England’s south coast, owner Pam Sandhu is normally not one to complain.
Yet the shelves of her large refrigerators are empty when they should be full of fresh white fish ready to be dipped in batter and deep fried, then served to hungry customers with piping hot chips.
Photo: AFP
In ordinary times, Russia supplied between 30 and 40 percent of the fish sold in British fish and chip shops, mostly cod and haddock, said Andrew Crook, president of the National Federation of Fish Friers.
Ukraine is the world’s biggest exporter of vegetable oil, which is used for deep frying what the federation calls Britain’s “undisputed national dish.”
“With this war in Ukraine, there is no fish available or a very small amount,” Sandhu told reporters. “Before we were ordering in large quantities. Now there is only a minimum order that we can get. The price has doubled from what we paid last year.”
Photo: AFP
The vegetable oil has also become hard to come by, she said.
Meanwhile, the UK’s introduction in the middle of last month of a 35 percent tariff on the import of white fish from Russia has begun to bite.
At the same time, fish and chip shop proprietors are also being hit by rising energy prices.
On a sunny spring Friday last month, Sandhu was worrying whether she would even have enough fish to get through the weekend.
She has been in the business for 30 years, often working seven days a week, and said she has never known as many problems with supplies or pressure on costs.
Sandhu’s restaurant has a terrace that looks out onto Brighton’s pebble beach and pier. She bought it three years ago and had planned to open in March 2020.
Then came COVID-19, followed by rising inflation and now the war in Ukraine and sanctions against Russia.
It has been the perfect storm for fish and chips vendors.
Fish and chips, first served as a single dish in the 1860s, has long been a working-class staple, although demographic and dietary changes have seen its popularity wane in the past few years. The takeaway favourite, covered in lashings of salt and vinegar, used to be wrapped in old newspaper and is typically served with mushy peas or tartare sauce.
“We’ve always been seen as a cheap meal, so our margins have always been quite low and we work on volume,” Crook said. “Unfortunately now with the inflationary price, it is very difficult to protect your margins, in fact they’re wiped out.”
Crook, a fish and chip shop owner in Lancashire, northwest England, has increased his prices by ￡0.50 (US$0.66) a portion to ￡8.50.
Fish has became even more expensive because some British trawlers are staying in port due to the high cost of fuel.
“It’s just not worth them going out and setting sail, so that’s further pressure on the supply of fish and it’s driving pressure further north,” he said.
Meanwhile, the sales tax in the UK is going back up to 20 percent, having been cut to 12.5 percent during the pandemic.
All of which could put as many as 3,000 of the country’s 10,000 fish and chip shops out of business, Crook said.
“It will probably happen in the next six months,” he said. “I think there is going to be that much pressure on people.”
Sandhu is hoping that her reputation and the quality of her fish and chips will help her ride out the storm.
She has not increased her prices, but is keeping a close eye on her competitors.
“We have to keep the customer happy, but I can’t work for nothing. I have a home to feed,” she said.
Cheaper hamburgers, hot dogs and sausage rolls are now on the menu.
Regular customer Sharon Patterson said that she would keep eating at the restaurant, whatever happens.
“Fish and chips have been part of my world ever since I existed,” Patterson said, sitting on the terrace alongside her mother, who is in her 80s.
“We do have to keep supporting all our local businesses and as long as I can afford it, I will come down and have fish and chips whenever I can,” she said. “It’s part of my growing up. It’s part of my culture.”
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