Mansfield and Ashfield chippies battered by rising costs could face further price hikes if sanctions hit

According to the president of the National Federation of Fish Friers Andrew Crook, the fish and chip industry is currently facing its “most dangerous threat in 160 years”.

Post Covid, "Energy and shipping costs have gone up. Wages have gone up. It's forcing the price of everything up,” he said.

And now, claiming that much of Britain’s white fish comes from Russia, he also fears if sanctions are imposed on their sales, the cost of the traditional fish supper could shoot up, threatening the survival of UK chippies.

"I've never had as much fear for the industry as I'm having now,” he said. “Some 40 to 60 per cent of white fish comes from Russian sources, a massive amount that comes in.

“If we get a sanction on Russian fish we can expect costs to triple. It could cause fish and chip shops to go bust. I've already seen it happening.”

"We've had a crisis on a crisis, with the rise to minimum wage and potential return to 20 per cent VAT. I've never seen anything like it, it's everything all at once.”

Two chip shops, in Sutton and Kirkby, are bracing themselves to ride out the latest storm to hit their industry.

The Jolly Fryer, on Low Moor Road, Kirkby, is run by 39-year-old dad-of-three Theo Tsiolas.

Theo said: "It is a concern for local chips shops that prices could go up. We always pay for quality, buy the best fish, ours is Icelandic, it is important for us to maintain quality.

"We have had to put prices up a bit recently, to absorb rising energy costs, gas electric, and dry goods, peas, things like the papers we wrap the food in, but not so much the cost of fish.

“I can’t say we’ve seen fewer customers, but we are very established and massively popular.

“We are still good value for a family meal, our fantastic special is still only £5-60p for standard fish and chips and peas, we also do “a whaling” version, with a much bigger fish, for £9-40p.

He added “We have come through much harder times, if things get worse, we just have to get through it.”

An employee at Steve’s Fish Bar, on Outram Street, Sutton, said it had been an incredibly “tough time” for the fish and chip industry.

"I think it is going to get even tougher for us,” he said.

"We’ve been going 26 years, we’ve seen it all, come through it all, including Covid, but this is going to be a tough time for us, and other local businesses and everyone really.

"Everything is going up, for us, in this latest situation we don’t know how the markets are going to be affected. Our fish is Icelandic and Norwegian, we don’t know how it will impact the markets, the potato crops, the rising cost of fuel and energy.

"We aren’t feeling the full impact yet. The Autumn, with the rising costs of energy and fuel will be worse, especially for people round here.

"As a business, it’s hard to plan, you have to put prices up to keep up with costs. It’s difficult to know what to do.”

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