National dish in danger?
According to an industry association, the British fish and chip shops are suffering from massive difficulties because of the war in Ukraine.
As the National Federation of Fish Friers (NFFF) informed the German Press Agency on Tuesday, many of the snack bars could soon be on the brink of collapse.
The background is that the availability of the four ingredients for the British national dish has suffered as a result of the Russian attack and its consequences.
So far, the fish and chip shops have obtained half of their sunflower oil from Russia or the Ukraine.
Flour for the breading has also been imported to a large extent from the Ukraine.
The prices for both have risen sharply since the beginning of the war.
Now the snack bar owners fear that they will also have to accept further losses as a result of the sanctions against Russia.
About 40 percent of the fish that end up on British plates or in cardboard boxes are caught by Russian trawlers.
Punitive tariffs, which are due to come into force soon, will soon cause prices to skyrocket here as well.
And a massive rise in the price of Russian fertilizers is likely to push up the price of potatoes, the snack bar operators fear.
All this is added to the massive increase in energy prices, said association head Andrew Crook in a dpa interview.
He is therefore calling on the government to lower the VAT rate for gastronomy again, as it was during the pandemic.
Currently, 20 percent VAT is due again on prepared food in Great Britain.
"Without change, many good employers will have to struggle to survive," says Crook, who runs a fish and chip shop himself.
He is currently not making any profit, said the entrepreneur.