Essex chippy promises resilience amidst potato price increase
Farmers say the heatwave may have damaged potato crops
Chip shop chips may soon be more expensive after the UK’s recent heatwave damaged potato crops, farmers have warned.
They say potato crops have been compromised by record temperatures and a prolonged dry spell, without any rain.
But John Lord, who runs the Jolly Fryer chip shop in Burnham on Crouch with his partner Liz, isn't worried: "I'm not concerned because we're a traditional chip shop, so we get our potatoes in, we peel them, rumble them and then chip them ourselves.
"Some chip shops will struggle though, if they get them delivered pre-prepared or frozen - but if you're traditional like ours, I think you should be fine."
He also says fish and chip shops are a hardy bunch: "Any business that's survived the pandemic is in a fairly strong situation - if you can survive that, your business is bulletproof to a certain extent."
This latest potential price rise comes after the cost of the British staple meal recently rose in some shops due to difficulties in getting cooking oil from Ukraine as a result of the war.
John says he's working hard to keep those costs down, without the customer suffering: "The price of oil has gone up, so instead of having three pans on during the day, we have two on.
"Then, we're using the third pan less and our oil is lasting longer... the customers haven't noticed any difference and the service is still the same...
"Over a month, we've actually saved something like 30% on our oil. It's about making small changes - because we're not using a third pan, we're using less gas too, so we're also saving on that.
"... although that's the only thing I'm slightly concerned about - the external costs of gas and electric."
Fish and chip shops are feeling the pinch from the cost of living crisis both in terms of costs and customers: "We have had fewer customers.
"I think the main reason the number has dropped is because we tend to see a lot of tourists because we're based along the river, but because of the current cost of fuel, there aren't so many tourists coming into the town for a visit."
Despite contending with continually rising costs, John says they're making an effort to keep costs accessible: "When we started the year, we put our prices up and they won't change again until November.
"We've also changed the menu a little bit to give people options. We're going to offer a cod loin, a smaller, chunkier piece of fish which we'll offer as part of a reduced meal, so people can still get their fish and chips... "People still wan to have fish and chips... it's a staple and it's probably in the Magna Carta or something, so we'll keep providing it."