National Fish and Chip Day shines spotlight on rising costs facing caterers
Britain’s favourite takeaway – with UK consumers eating an estimated 382 million fish and chip shop meals every year[1] – has surged in cost in recent years, with some classic fish and chip shop staples more than doubling in price since 2021, according to new analysis from Quenelles, the UK’s leading food benchmarking service.
Following National Fish and Chip Day (5 June), Quenelles analysed pricing data across a range of popular fish and chip products to reveal the true scale of inflation impacting caterers and foodservice operators.
Among the sharpest increases were breaded whitefish cakes, which have risen by 116% over the five-year period (2021-2026), followed closely by branded oven chips (+111%), MSC battered pollock fillets (+99%) and wholetail scampi (+89%).
However, not every seafood item experienced the same level of inflation. MSC Alaskan pollock fillets rose by just 5% – the lowest increase of all the items – while MSC cod fillets increased by 41%, haddock fillets by 44%, and MSC breaded pollock fishfingers by 56%, highlighting the varying pressures across different species and product categories.
Even traditional accompaniments have seen significant increases, including curry sauce* (+68%), vinegar (+37%) and mushy peas (+32%).
Paul Wright, Managing Director at Quenelles, commented: “Fish and chips are woven into British food culture and remain one of the nation’s best-loved meals, but behind the scenes caterers and operators have faced huge pricing pressures over the past five years.
“From rising energy costs and supply chain disruption to inflation impacting seafood, potatoes and cooking ingredients, the industry has had to navigate an incredibly challenging trading environment.
“While some increases are more dramatic than others – and increases will vary depending on pack format – the figures provide a realistic reflection of what catering teams and foodservice operators are seeing day-to-day when purchasing many of the UK’s most popular fish and chip products.”
The findings come from Quenelles’ daily benchmarking of food prices, which enables operators, contract caterers and in-house catering teams to understand how competitive their purchasing prices are and identify opportunities for smarter procurement.
With over £1.5 billion worth of benchmarked data, Quenelles boasts the UK’s most comprehensive food benchmarking database – covering more than 470,000 coded product lines, 3,100 named suppliers, and 51,000+ benchmarked products.
For further information please visit www.quenelles.co.uk
