Hundreds of Indian restaurants and takeaways across the country could be forced to close because of new costs and charges, according to experts.
Monthly electricity bills for the UK’s 8,000 Indian restaurants are up £640 to £960, from £400 to £600 last year, says trade magazine Spice.
And at the same time the price of ingredients has rocketed.
Mango chutney has soared 39% in recent months from 95p to £1.32 per kilo. Restaurants use 80kg a month.
A kilo of fresh chicken breast is up from £2.90 to £3.80, a 25kg sack of onions £8.75 instead of £7.75, and cardamom £32 per kilo from £25.
Enam Ali, founder of the Spice Business and the British Curry Awards, said: “These cost increases are unsustainable.
“After years of pain caused by the lack of skilled chefs and the Covid crisis, the curry industry is now being hit by cost increases in everything from gas to cardamom, vegetable oil to mango chutney.
“Unless costs come under control, many hundreds of curry restaurants will go under, thousands of jobs will be lost.
“The great British tikka masala - the country’s favourite dish - is under threat as never before.”
Daraz Aziz, who runs three restaurants, said: “Businesses cannot sustain on grants from Government. They need to do something in the mechanism.”
A Treasury spokesman said: “We’ve supported hospitality jobs and businesses through the pandemic.”
