FryMaster: Sheffield's top-rated fish and chip shop forced to increase prices due to soaring food costs

But FryMaster Fish & Chips, on Attercliffe Road, in Attercliffe, which is the city’s highest-rated chippy on Tripadvisor, with an average score of five out of five, says it is trying to absorb the rising costs as much as possible to protect customers.

Like other chip shops, it has been hit by the huge increases in wholesale prices of fish and other ingredients, including mushy peas and beef drippings, fuelled in part by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Owner Richard Pearce said the amount he pays for fish has gone up by around 50-60 per cent in the last year, while mushy peas have more than doubled in price and the cost of beef dripping has also rocketed.

He has been forced to raise prices slightly, from £4.95 for a standard portion of fish and chips to £5.15, but says his profit margins have been hit as he doesn’t want to pass on the full increase to customers who are struggling themselves with the cost of living crisis.

Food prices were rising before Russia invaded Ukraine but the cost of certain ingredients, including fish, has gone up even more since the war began. The expense of cooking food and heating and lighting premises is also up, due to ballooning energy prices.

Richard believes the big rise in the cost of fish explains why some chip shops in Sheffield are already rebranding to sell other, cheaper products, like pizzas and burgers.

Broomhill Friery, which was popular with Game of Thrones star Sean Bean, recently shut and has been rebranded as a pizza parlour, and Richard said Barracuda Fish Bar near Park Hill which his grandmother used to run has also been converted to a pizzeria.

He said: “We’ve always been a reasonably priced shop and I would rather sell a lot for a little than a little for a lot, so we’ve tried to limit price rises as much as possible, but it’s difficult.

“Everyone’s suffering at the moment so I don’t want to put any more pressure on our customers, but our profit margins have been squeezed.

"Custom has finally got back to pre-Covid levels in the last couple of weeks and I don’t think the small rise in our prices is affecting footfall but some people are maybe eating fish less and getting things like sausages or fishcakes more so the spend’s probably a little bit down.

"Wholesale prices look like they’re going to continue rising, and every time I pick up the phone I fear it’s going to be another supplier telling me they’ve got bad news.

“We were just coming out of the Covid restrictions and things were looking really, really good, but this is just prolonging the agony.”

The National Federation of Fish Friers (NFFF) this week told the PA news agency it expects one third of fish and chip shops to go out of business due to the cost of electricity and ingredient prices.

Much of the white fish consumed in the UK traditionally comes from Russia, and the federation said that if Russia places an embargo on its fish exports the impact on British chippies could be even greater.