Photo used for illustrative purposes.

Fish and chips are the quintessential British family favourite. The English simply love this staple fare. A poll conducted three years ago in Britain rated this dish as the second most popular family meal.

Now, fans of this dish are in for a bitter flavour: fish and chips have seen the biggest price increase out of the UK’s favourite takeaways, costing an average of £10, new figures have shown.

Despite traditionally being an affordable staple of British cuisine, the average price for a portion of the deep-fried delicacy has risen by more than 50 per cent in the five years to July.

Soaring costs of potatoes and fish due to bad harvests, climate change and the war in Ukraine have been blamed for the dramatic increase in price, which averaged at £6.48 in July 2019.

Potato farmers have also found it difficult to yield a good crop of native varieties such as the maris piper due to years of miserable weather in the UK, says the Independent.

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Figures gathered by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that restaurant and takeaway prices have risen across all sectors, with a spike occurring in 2022 after the cost of living crisis caused energy costs to increase.

The cost of a kebab rose by 44 per cent and pizza has risen by 30 per cent, while other British favourites such as an Indian or Chinese takeaway are up by 29 per cent each.

“We’ve had the perfect storm of events in terms of cost pressures,” Jon Long, of Long John’s Fish and Chips in Dorset, told the BBC. “It’s not a cheap meal anymore. I think it’s still good value but it has become more expensive.”

He added: “I’ve never known an onslaught of pressures in terms of costs going up.”

Recent figures from the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs’ Agricultural Price Index (API) show that prices paid to UK farmers for potatoes have risen in the last two years, due to the current economic climate.

On average, they are being paid three times what they were receiving in 2019, as a result of bad harvests with the cost of white potatoes rising by nine per cent per kilogramme.

As well as collecting data on takeaways, the ONS has shown that a number of average household items have increased in price, with olive oil being the worst affected.

Other food items to up their prices include white sugar, baked beans and frozen beef burgers.

The Independent