Soaring cost of potatoes batters British chippies

Whether it’s fried, baked or mashed, potatoes have traditionally been a low-cost staple food in the UK – but not any more. A surge in costs is clobbering high street chippies, while in the supermarket, oven chips and the once humble baking potato are casualties of soaring grocery prices. Some fish and chip shops could opt to close after the cost of 25kg sacks more than doubled to £20, said Andrew Crook, who speaks for the industry as the president of the National Federation of Fish Friers. “People might just shut their shop due to all the other costs as well,” he said. “They were barely keeping their heads above water, so this is going to be a step too far. Some shops will close until potato prices settle down but some it may put under.” While figures this week revealed that the steadying of energy costs after a period of big increases had brought the UK’s annual inflation rate back down to 8.7% last month, food and drink prices are still rising at the fastest pace in more than 40 ...