More than 3,500 fish and chip shops across the UK face closure with sunflower oil shortages ravaging the industry.
The British staple is enduring the ‘biggest crisis’ in its history as companies and owners struggle to secure cooking oil due to the war in Ukraine.
There are over 10,000 chippies and thousands are at risk, a leading industry body has warned.
An organisation says one in three could close by the end of this year due to a national shortage as supermarkets start to ration the sale of cooking oil.
It is feared many could be forced out of business after of a spike in prices for the oil and suitable alternatives.
According to the National Federation of Fish Friers, shops bosses are having to pay more than double what they were three months ago.
Andrew Crook, president of the NFFF, told the i he predicts up to a third are seriously struggling to keep up with rising costs.
Mr Crook owns Skippers Fish & Chips in Euxton, Lancashire, and explained the price rises are pushing the traditional favourite towards closure in some areas.
His popular chippy typically uses around 200 litres – almost 10 20-litre drums – of sunflower oil every week.
“I’ve got 40 drums in my shop at the moment, and I probably won’t be able to get any more after that, so I’ll have to make it last,” he told the i.
“It’s very difficult for small businesses to keep up with all the changes and it’s not just businesses and numbers of shops that will fall, it’s all these second or third generation family stories.
“It’s our responsibility to keep them going, but through no fault of our own we are at risk of failing - we’ve just come through one major crisis with the pandemic and now we’re in this crisis which is even bigger."
He says the only way many will survive is if prices are increased.
The Observatory of Economic Complexity stated in 2019 that Ukraine was responsible for 48% of global sunflower seed and safflower oil exports.
The second-largest producer is Russia, which exported 24% of the world’s supply.
