Let 'em eat cake

 

Less than twelve months ago SOYMB posted this:

‘When you are unemployed, which is to say when you are underfed, harassed, bored, and miserable, you don't want to eat dull wholesome food. You want something a little bit 'tasty'. There is always some cheaply pleasant thing to tempt you. Let's have three pennorth of chips!’

George Orwell The Road to Wigan Pier

‘Fish and chips, a traditional British meal valued for its affordability, has seen a significant increase in price over the past five years, several UK media outlets reported  citing data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

According to July figures, the cost of fish and chips has surged by around 52% to nearly £10 ($13) per serving from an average of £6.5 in July 2019. According to the ONS, the cost of the popular dish has seen the largest increase over the reporting period in comparison to pizza, kebabs, and Indian and Chinese food...Western sanctions and Russia’s countermeasures also affected energy supplies, which triggered a rise in energy costs for British businesses. As a result, the price of fish and chips spiked by 19% by March 2023... According to the latest Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs’ Agricultural Price Index (API), in the 12 months to May 2024, potato prices posted the largest increase among UK agricultural goods, surging 4.1%.Industry representatives warn that fish and chips is becoming less affordable, and may soon lose its status as an iconic British dish...“People think that fish and chips is a cheap meal and it just isn’t. People are prepared to pay £15-20 for a pizza but they’re not prepared to pay it for a portion of fish and chips,” Angela Cartwright, the owner of Kingfisher Fish Bar in Salford, said.’

https://socialismoryourmoneyback.blogspot.com/2024/08/tell-capitalism-its-time-to-cod-off-sic.html

A new piece in The Sun notes that out of the nine thousand fish and chip shops in the Uk five hundred of them are now closing down yearly This number may increase due to the triple threat of spiralling costs of energy, cooking oil and fish. Red diesel fuel used by Trawlers has doubled. One fisherman quoted said that his fuel costs had gone from ten thousand pounds to over twenty thousand pounds for a week’s fishing. The average cost of fish and chips is now twelve pounds per portion.

The National Federation of Fish Fryers criticised Energy Secretary Ed Miliband’s Net Zero drive for “lacking common sense”.

President Andrew Crook said Chancellor Rachel Reeves should cut fuel duty while the Strait of Hormuz closure is impacting on trawlers and distributors.

He said: “We’re in danger of throwing our economy away to try to meet the arbitrary Net Zero goal. Independent fish and chip shops are feeling the brunt. The price of cod has doubled and it’s very difficult to turn a profit.’

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/38936139/fish-and-chip-shops-face-closure-amid-soaring-costs/

A BBC investigation found that some North Western chip shops were selling a catfish species, known as pangasius or river cobbler which is £3.40 per kilogram wholesale, whereas cod and haddock typically go for £15 per kilogram without customers being fully aware of what they were buying.

‘Much like in the 2013 horsemeat scandal, eating cheaper fish does not present a health risk, but concerns have been raised about consumer deception.

"It probably does go on," said Andrew Crook, president of the National Federation of Fish Friers.

"It is fine to eat, ( pangasius) there's nothing wrong with it, but when you go and get fish and chips most people expect a marine species, so cod, haddock or plaice.

"I think if you've got something that's farmed, like pangasius, as long as it's advertised as such that's fine.

"It's when it's being sold at a cod price that's a problem and shops need to be careful about doing that."’

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvg0337n0y1o 

Profit is the name of the game under capitalism so all sort of subterfuges are employed to acquire more and more.