Food followers face forking out much more for his or her favorite meals after the Budget
Experts are warning that pubs and restaurants will be forced to pass on soaring food and drink costs to their customers after the Chancellor didn’t give them any meaningful support
Fish and chips and burger fans face forking out more for their favourite meals after fast food joints and pubs were fried in the Budget.
Struggling inns and eateries will be forced to pass on soaring food and drink costs to customers after failing to win meaningful support from the Chancellor this week, say industry analysts.
Cod and haddock prices were “increasing sharply”, found Lynx Purchasing’s Winter 2025 Market Forecast report. While it warned Brits faced “very high costs for some core (Christmas) menu products, such as turkey and beef”.
It comes after it emerged that six in 10 Brits are planning to be more price-conscious this Christmas as the Budget triggered an immediate drop in consumer confidence.
The catering supply firm also warned rocketing commodity costs, including cocoa and coffee, would ramp up prices of festive faves like yule log and espresso martinis.
It said: “Coffee commodity prices have more than doubled since the start of last year as major producers, such as Brazil and Vietnam, struggle with the impact of extreme weather and climate change. With cocoa crops facing similar challenges, the higher prices being asked by suppliers are likely to continue.”
The report added: “Hospitality operators must quickly put the disappointing Budget behind them, as well as accept high prices for some core Christmas products.”
Lynx Purchasing managing director, Rachel Dobson, said: “For the most part, hospitality didn’t get the support it was looking for from Rachel Reeves’ Budget. While support on business rates is welcome, the industry had campaigned for broader tax concessions and also has to factor in a further increase in wage costs.”
Ms Dobson added: “Equally, while Christmas is just getting underway for customers, in term of menu planning it’s already in the past.
“Very high costs for some core menu products, such as turkey and beef as the centrepiece of a Christmas dinner, or the coffee in a festive espresso martini and the chocolate in a Yule log, have severely dented margins.”
It comes after the Daily Star romped to victory in our campaign to save horseracing after the Chancellor’s plan to ramp up betting tax fell at the first. She was forced to scrap her plan to whack up the duty on online racing wagers by 6% after we revealed it would cost 40,000 jobs and risked consigning the 500-year-old sport of kings to the knacker’s yard.
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