Fish cost forces chippy to up prices to stay open

The owners of a family-run fish and chip shop say the cost of "everything has gone up" so they have had to increase the price of their cod in order to "survive".

The Wotton British Takeaway, in Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire, has been running for 23 years.

Owner Chris Onisiforou said the cost of cod had "skyrocketed" over the past few years to "triple what it was a few years ago" as well as the cost of potatoes, batter, oil and energy.

Onisiforou said the family had done "everything we can to absorb these increases for as long as possible" but something had to be done to keep the doors open.

Onisiforou's son - also named Chris - said customer numbers had dropped because of the cost of living.

"People can't afford what they used to and have to think about where their money is going," he said.

In a statement on Facebook, father and son said "over the past few years things have changed in ways we've never experienced before".

The price of a portion of cod is now £11.50.

The chip shop is keen to encourage people to try a cheaper alternative to cod called coley which is part of the cod family and has a similar taste.

It is £8.50 a portion.

But Chris said people "like their cod and don't want to change".

Andrew Crook, president of the National Federation of Fish Fryers, said part of the reason the price of cod had gone up by so much was the "significant reduction" in cod availability due to restrictions on fishing.

There is now "only a quarter of the cod available globally that there was six years ago [so] everybody's fighting for the same fish," he said.

But Crook, who runs his own fish and chip shop in Yorkshire, said the increases to minimum wage, taxation and VAT charges all "add up to making it more difficult for a business".

He said: "We've always been a cheap meal and it's probably been too cheap over the years."

The uncertainty in the Middle East is also "causing concern" in the industry.

"The biggest worry is fuel costs for customers because if they're having to pay more for filling up the car and more for heating the house that could affect what they can afford to spend with us," said Crooke.

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