Page 4 | £4.69 for a large portion of chips wtf...

Meltinthemiddle · 2023-08-31T15:26:37+00:00

and I definitely wouldn't say it is a large portion! I couldn't believe. I know prices have gone up but it's only potatoes fgs.

Peskytooth · 31/08/2023 18:18

Cook your own then. It’s the going rate for convenience fast food. Although I have to admit you get enough chips to feed a family of 4 for a week for £5 here

Pleaseme · 31/08/2023 18:27

It is really expensive £11 for a fish supper. You have to pay for sauce separately too. Nearly a fiver for chips. Aldi beer battered haddock in the air fryer, chips, mushy peas and home made tartar sauce about £3 a plate.

I’m sure lots of people are priced out the takeaway market tbh

kizzywizz · 31/08/2023 18:33

To give some context to the price today, in 2008 I worked in a catering suppliers, the 12.5kg blocks of fat used in the chippys cost £6, today that same block of fat costs £30 and it takes 3 or 4 blocks to fill each pan. That's £90-£120 just to fill each pan with fat.

OhmygodDont · 31/08/2023 18:48

It’s sad isn’t it. We will lose local family run companies because they cannot afford to not put prices up but then people can’t afford to visit so they still lose money. Horrible position to be in.

When we moved here our end of the road chippy would have people lined up outside, they even got their own chippy van business was booming. Went by tonight One person in there.

Original poster

Meltinthemiddle · 31/08/2023 20:35

I definitely can't afford takeaways at that price. It would have fed one adult alone.

OP posts:

Idratherbepaddleboarding · 02/09/2023 19:29

I walked past our local chippy tonight at 6pm on a Saturday night and there was only one person in ☹️.

jc12689 · 02/09/2023 21:34

RenegadeKeeblerElf · 31/08/2023 16:28

It's potatoes, oil, gas/electric for heating the oil and the shop, business rates/rent, insurance, staff salaries (which have probably also gone up so that the staff can afford to live), and maybe a tiny amount of profit.

Well our local chippy manages to do all that for £2.50 for a very large portion of chips (South East).

WhereHaveAllTheMooncupsGone · 02/09/2023 21:48

Cheap as chips is now an outdated saying.

BarbaraofSeville · 03/09/2023 05:26

Idratherbepaddleboarding · 02/09/2023 19:29

I walked past our local chippy tonight at 6pm on a Saturday night and there was only one person in ☹️.

I found the same at 12.30 so Saturday lunchtime in Pickering, which is a destination in its own right and the last bit of civilisation before you go out into the wilds of the North York moors, so a busy town.

I paid £8.50 for regular haddock(£6) and chips (£2.50) which was large enough for lunch and dinner either side of a 6 mile walk on the moors.

Ginmonkeyagain · 03/09/2023 07:46

Well. Fish and chip places are energy intensive - you know those really high energy bills you have struggled with over the last year? Try tens of thousands of pounds - no price cap for businesses.

Ukraine is the world's major sunflower oil exporter so the war has caused shortages and price rises. Finally you may have noticed we had an unusally hot and dry summer and autumn last year - that had a huge knock on effect on potato crops.

Paq · 03/09/2023 07:59

If you already had chicken curry and rice why did you need chips?

Oysterbabe · 03/09/2023 08:02

I worked in a fish and chip shop as a teen in the mid 90s. A standard portion of chips was 70p 👵

Seashellies · 03/09/2023 08:08

Its a tricky one as of course prices have increased, but if you price people out then you're in even more trouble. My brother in law owns and runs a chippy, they have been putting prices up steadily in response to their higher outgoings, but he was saying they were so quiet some shifts that they lost more money just being open than they would by taking less of a profit per portion. They're doing okay for now thankfully, as with any item some choices offset the costs more than others- he does chips a reasonable price because it draws people in, you then get people wanting a portion to share on the way home, last minute walking by and it smells good buys as well as those coming in for a meals worth. It depends on the area as well I suppose, what other eateries there are, the demographic etc. A fiver is a lot though.

NamelessNancy · 03/09/2023 08:14

Small businesses are not profiteering! Pps have explained how dramatically costs have gone up. If they were profiteering they'd be making huge profits, not struggling to stay open. Pricing out the customer base deliberately would be self sabotage.

Save the accusations of profiteering for the energy companies who are making huge profits out of col because people have no choice as to whether to use their product or not.

andrainwillmaketheflowersgrow · 03/09/2023 08:16

Well our local chippy manages to do all that for £2.50 for a very large portion of chips (South East).

Have you never heard of a loss leader?

abigailsnan · 03/09/2023 08:24

Here on Merseyside the average locally is £2 for a large portion of chips the shop near to me is always busy with queues out side the door a portion is enough for 2 x good helpings so If one business can do it why cant others,their fish is from £5.20

Zaaarrr · 03/09/2023 08:25

Meltinthemiddle · 31/08/2023 20:35

I definitely can't afford takeaways at that price. It would have fed one adult alone.

A curry, a rice and a large chips should not only feed one adult.

We've got a fish and chip shop in our family and of course we are trying to keep the prices low and competitive but as others have already said, the food, fuel and oil costs are making that almost impossible.

We've already stopped opening at lunchtimes as it's not worth heating the oil.

andrainwillmaketheflowersgrow · 03/09/2023 08:30

abigailsnan · 03/09/2023 08:24

Here on Merseyside the average locally is £2 for a large portion of chips the shop near to me is always busy with queues out side the door a portion is enough for 2 x good helpings so If one business can do it why cant others,their fish is from £5.20

Because all businesses are different and will have different running costs.

YellowDots · 03/09/2023 08:31

abigailsnan · 03/09/2023 08:24

Here on Merseyside the average locally is £2 for a large portion of chips the shop near to me is always busy with queues out side the door a portion is enough for 2 x good helpings so If one business can do it why cant others,their fish is from £5.20

So £7.20 for a small fish and a large chips. That sounds totally normal. How much is an ordinary size fish? Or a pie? That's quite a good measure as they are standard sizes.

Perhaps your area has gone for competitive chip prices and now are making a loss on their chips to get people in. If people only buy chips then they will go under.

Ginmonkeyagain · 03/09/2023 08:38

Also rents and wages differ. I would hazard my local chippy in inner London or one in a tourist hotspot on the south coast pays more in rent than one in Merseyside.

Missingmyusername · 03/09/2023 08:41

I would also say it’s not bad, it’s a fiver here- at the coast it costs more.

Our food has been too cheap for way too long. That’s why we’re stunned.

User56785 · 03/09/2023 08:46

abigailsnan · 03/09/2023 08:24

Here on Merseyside the average locally is £2 for a large portion of chips the shop near to me is always busy with queues out side the door a portion is enough for 2 x good helpings so If one business can do it why cant others,their fish is from £5.20

Whereabouts is this on Merseyside?

Passthecake30 · 03/09/2023 08:51

I paid £4.20 for a large portion this week so the teens could have a chip butty for lunch. I thought for that price the chips would actually cover the bread for 2 people! Inflation and shrinkflation hand in hand.

Zodfa · 03/09/2023 08:52

£10 for a small fish and chips at my local chippy. Can't remember how much of that is the chips.

RudsyFarmer · 03/09/2023 08:55

It’s £3.50 for a latte at Costa. So those prices sound not so bad when you compare like with like.