Americans aren’t the only ones feeling the impacts of high inflation rates. In Britain, record inflation rates have recently sent shockwaves across industries.
Richard Pickering, the Director of Kennedy Fish and Chips in London, says the fallout from Brexit, COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine have increased costs for ingredients up to 25 to 30%.
“Most of it comes from Russian Steppes or Ukraine and that supply is just not available at the moment,” Pickering told CBS News foreign correspondent Roxana Saberi.
He says he hopes the fish and chips industry pushes through despite the high prices.
“It survived and thrived in two world wars,” he said. “It’s going to be difficult and there will be some casualties.”
His establishment is one of approximately 10,000 fish and chip restaurants throughout the United Kingdom, according to CNN Business. Andrew Crook, president of the National Federation of Fish Friers, told CNN that as many as one third of those restaurants could close in the next nine months due to rising ingredient prices.
In the 12 months until this May, Britain’s inflation rate hit a new 40-year high of 9.1%, according to the Associated Press. Comparatively, U.S. consumer prices surged 8.6% in May which was also its biggest increase since 1981, the AP said.
UK residents say they feel the effects of inflation beyond just their plates too. Some noted increasing prices of gasoline, electricity and gas heating in the country. One woman told Saberi she even opts for a blanket at times when she’s cold instead of turning on heating to save money.
“In the UK, we’re so dependent on these imports from the rest of the world, be it energy, be it food and it’s precisely those things that are going up in price,” Bloomberg economist and journalist Stephanie Flanders said. “It can have ripple effects in the US. It can add to a volatile global environment.”
And as wages in the country have lagged behind, railway workers have gone on strike, with protesters calling on the government for added assistance.
“How are we expected to put food on the table, to put a shelter over our heads?” a protester asked.
Some food banks are also struggling to stay stocked amidst the shortages. Some residents are sustaining themselves by growing their own food.
“People are starting to realize how much, how important being able to grow their own food is and they can reduce their family budgets by doing so,” volunteer Keith Meakin at the National Allotment Society told Saberi. “It all adds up and it’s a big help.”
