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No. 38515
Anonymous
27th May 2022 Friday 12:11 am
38515

>The end of fish and chips? Rising prices threaten a British tradition
>Fish and chips in hand, Prime Minister Boris Johnson once promised to "build back batter" from the pandemic. Now though, rising prices are veering Britain's economy further off course. A third of fish and chip shops are at risk of going bust this year due to a "perfect storm" of price pressures, according to insolvency firm Company Debt. In just a year, prices for Britain's favourite fish - cod and haddock - are up 75%, sunflower oil is up 60%, and flour is up 40%, Company Debt said. Inflation reached a 40-year peak of 9% in April, the highest in the G7, and is projected to rise further. British consumers are more pessimistic than peers in Europe, leading to criticism of both government and Bank of England efforts to keep a lid on the cost of living. Cod and chips in Singh's shop now costs 9.50 pounds, compared to 7.95 pounds a year ago. And Singh said if he passed on all the higher costs, the price would be closer to 11 pounds.
>Battered fish and fried chips, have fuelled Britons since the combination was invented 160 years ago. The meal is such a staple that unlike other food in Britain, it was not rationed during the world wars. Chippies, with their distinctive smell of oil and vinegar, remain a presence in most towns. Some of the recent difficulties for fish and chip shops began after Brexit, distant-waters trawler company UK Fisheries said, estimating that the amount of Arctic cod Britain is allowed to catch in 2022 reduced to around 40% of what it was before leaving the European Union. Russia's invasion of Ukraine has driven up fuel and electricity prices, further increasing the cost of catching, and frying, fish. The war has sent cooking oil, fertiliser and flour prices higher too.
>Cod and haddock are sourced in the Barents Sea, north of Norway and Russia, and the war has heightened uncertainty over those supplies. In March, the British government listed Russian white fish as among goods to be hit with a 35% tariff as part of sanctions in response to the invasion of Ukraine. It has paused the move, for now, while the impact is investigated. Sunflower oil is the principle agricultural commodity the UK imports from Ukraine and the government says it is working to substitute it with other vegetable oils: for instance, receiving extra rapeseed shipments from Australia after a strong harvest there.
https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/end-fish-chips-rising-prices-threaten-british-tradition-2022-05-26/
It's strange that for an island nation I don't think we really eat fish anymore. All you'd really need to do is take tuna away and we'd be living off sushi and squid rings.
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