‘If they go up too much it wont be worth opening’ - Potato prices threaten Yarmouth’s famous market chips
Steven and Lisa Carr of Carr's chip stall which is feeling the pinch thanks to soaring potato prices Picture Liz Coates - Credit: Archant
For many they are the best thing about a visit to Great Yarmouth with fans declaring them the tastiest in the land.
Steven and Lisa Carr of Carr's chip stall which is feeling the pinch thanks to soaring potato prices Picture Liz Coates - Credit: Archant
And at 90p for a kiddie cone and £1.20 for an adult portion Market Place chips tick a range of boxes that keep customers coming back for more.
But the filling favourite is under attack from rising potato prices, which have reportedly doubled in the last year.
Steven and Lisa Carr who have run Carr’s chip stall for more than 30 years said it was a worry.
Mr Carr said he was paying £11.50 for a 55lb sack - twice as much as this same time last year because of the poor harvest.
(3of7) Minister for the Cabinet Office, Mo Mowlam accompanied by Gt. Yarmouth MP Tony Wright, on a tour of the town's market place, eating Yarmouth market chips and meeting members of the public. edp 16/5/01 - Credit: Eastern Counties Newspapers
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But the couple who have not put up prices for around three years say they are determined not to pass on the hike to customers, many of whom are also struggling in the cold economic climate.
MORE: Could you be eating an endangered shark species in Norfolk’s fish and chip shops?Mr Carr said: “We last put up prices three years ago, and if they go up any more we will have to think about it.
“But if they go up to high it just wont be worth opening.
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“They did shut before in the 1970s when they went too high.
The market place in Great Yarmouth with its busy chip stalls Picture: James Bass - Credit: Eastern Daily Press © 2012
“Our chips are cheaper than in the chip shops and we are in the centre of town.”
He said cutting down to shorter days could also be an option to help balance the books.
Adding to their problems were the cost of flour and fat which had also gone up he said, but any price hike had to be agreed by all the chip stalls and that had not happened yet.
Paula Hannant, from Hickling, was buying cheesy chips at the stall.
(5of10) No taste like home : Myleene Klass enjoying a bag of chips from the Yarmouth market place.Lorna Marsh story. - Credit: Eastern Counties Newspapers
For her it was an occasional treat she would be happy to pay a bit more for, but might think differently if she were buying them more often.
Ormesby farmer Richard Hirst, who has tenant potato growers on his land, said: “The yields off our fields this year were probably 20pc lower even though we did everything we could to get them growing.
“It is the impact of last Spring being very cold and then very dry and hot. It is just one of those things.”
