- There are around 10,500 Fish and Chips restaurants in the UK, more than all of the nine most popular restaurant brands like KFC or McDonald’s combined.
- The Easter period is a crucial time for players in this sector.
- Except that with the war in the Middle East, the bill for this fish dish is starting to rise.
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A month of war in the Middle East
The war in the Middle East continues to impact the world economy. With the rise in fuel prices, it is the turn of food to bear the brunt of the conflict. Particularly fish and chips, a typically British dish particularly eaten at Easter which is increasingly expensive.
“Given the price of gasoline, we fear that people will stop eating as much fish and chips and go out to restaurants less often
“, Captain Peter Bruce told AFP. Before the war, a month ago, he spent 5,000 pounds of diesel to bring back haddock and cod from a mission in the North Sea, used to prepare fish and chips. “It cost us 10,000 pounds on our last trip
“, he explains, ensuring that he has already started to slow down the speed of his ship to try to save fuel. He assures: the annual additional cost could exceed 100,000 pounds, or 114,000 euros.
Fear of a rise in potato prices
A popular dish born in the 1860s, once served in newspaper, fish and chips is made with a fried breaded white fish fillet and fries, sometimes accompanied by pea puree and tartar sauce. There are around 10,500 fish and chip restaurants in the UK according to data from public body Seafish dating back to 2024, more than all of the nine most popular restaurant brands combined, including KFC, McDonald’s and Pizza Hut, the organization said.
The difficulties do not only come from the war in the Middle East which has entered its second month and has propelled oil prices, just like petrol and diesel whose rise in March is unprecedented in the United Kingdom, according to data from the Royal Automobile Club (RAC). Stricter rules on fishing to preserve species, as well as the aftermath of the war in Ukraine – Russia notably supplied 30 to 40% of the fish in the country – have already weakened it before.
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“We pay a high price”: in French ports, fishermen at the quay and fish are rarer because of the price of diesel
The rise in fertilizer prices, as well as that of energy prices, also raise fears of an increase in potato prices. Andrew Crook, owner of a restaurant in Lancashire which offers its fish and chips at 11.45 pounds (around 13 euros), says that restaurateurs are looking for several solutions to avoid having to increase prices, such as replacing classic fish with less expensive choices, like North American hake or South African hake, or reducing portions.
