(Brighton) They’ve weathered Brexit and COVID-19, are floating in the face of historic inflation, but the war in Ukraine risks sinking thousands of sellers of British ‘fish and chips’, a national symbol of popular and good food Marlet.
Posted at 2:38 p.m.
At Captain’s in Brighton, on the south coast of England, owner Pam Sandhu is not one to complain. But in her large fridges, she shows her empty shelves, when she wants them full of white fish, intended to be served with fries as tradition dictates.
“With the war in Ukraine, there is no more fish, or very little,” she says. “And prices have doubled since last year.”
On this sunny spring Friday, she worries if she will even have enough fish to finish the weekend.
She has worked in fish and chips for 30 years, often seven days a week, and says she has never experienced supply problems or such pressure on costs before.
She bought her Brighton restaurant, whose terrace overlooks the beach, three years ago and had planned to open in March 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic has delayed the project. Then she had to deal with inflation… and recently with the war in Ukraine and the sanctions against Russia.
Russia usually supplies 30-40% of the fish (mainly cod and haddock) sold in UK fish and chips, according to Andrew Crook, president of the National Federation of Fried Fish Vendors (NFFF). Ukraine is also the world’s largest exporter of sunflower oil, used for frying. Pam speaks of a “shortage” of oil.
A 35% tariff was announced in mid-March by London against Russian white fish, adding to concerns, as fish and chips are already facing soaring gas prices, the other major worry from Pam.
A popular dish born in the 1860s, once served in newspaper, fish and chips is made from a fried breaded white fish fillet and fries, sometimes served with mashed peas and tartar sauce.
“Destroyed” margins
“We’ve always been seen as a cheap meal, our margins have always been pretty low, and we’re working on volumes. Unfortunately, with the rise in prices, it is very difficult to protect your margins, they are wiped out, ”explains Andrew Crook to AFP.
Owner of a fish and chip shop in Lancashire, northwest England, he has raised prices by 50 pence (0.80 Canadian dollars), for a portion now at 8.5 pounds (13.80 $).
According to him, fish has become all the more expensive as some British boats no longer go fishing “because of the price of fuel”: “It’s not worth it”.
He also mentions the planned return of the sales tax, reduced to 12.5% during the pandemic, to 20% in April.
Before the war in Ukraine, he thought that of the approximately 10,000 fish and chip shops in the UK, some 3,000 were in danger of disappearing in the next five years. “It’s probably going to happen in the next six months,” he says.
Pam hopes that her reputation and the quality of her products will see her through the crisis. She did not increase her prices, but “look at what others are doing”. She also does not want to lose customers with prices that are too high.
In his fridges, round hamburger buns replaced the missing white fish. On his menu, hot dogs, hamburgers and sausage rolls are all cheaper than his fish and chips.
On her terrace facing the ocean, Sharon Patterson, a loyal customer who came with her octogenarian mother, assures that she does not want to give up this dish: “the prices are rising but we must support our local merchants and as long as I can afford it, I will come and eat fish and chips as often as possible. Because that’s how I grew up, and it’s part of my culture.