The high prices are threatening a billion-dollar business and a staple of the British menu: Every year, Brits eat more than 382 million orders of fish and chips, the federation says.

In an interview, Andrew Crook, the federation’s president, said that while energy prices have started to level off, ingredients are still hammering restaurant budgets. He said chippies are now buying cod for prices two-thirds more expensive than what they were before the Ukraine war, while a sack of potatoes costs double what it did.

A plate of fish and chips at Maggie's cafe in Hastings.

A plate of fish and chips at Maggie's cafe in Hastings.Angela Neil / NBC News

It’s a daily struggle for cafes like Maggie’s, tucked in between old fishing huts just steps from the fish market. The restaurant has been a fixture of the Hastings fish and chips scene for decades, and when the doors open at noon, the smell of crisp, golden-brown fish wafts out of the door and greets the line of locals and tourists waiting on the staircase for a table.

Lionel Cobley, the restaurant’s co-owner, says costs for his ingredients have gone up 30% to 40%, forcing the restaurant to up its prices. A plate of cod and chips eaten in store now goes for 14.90 British pounds (about $18), putting it out of reach for many looking for a cheap weekday meal.

"Some of the competitors are reducing their hours. Some are reducing the quality, staffing levels,” Cobley says. “Everybody’s trying to make some sort of cuts, so not to pass it on to a customer.”

In recent months, chippies and their supporters have begun a campaign to “Save the chippies,” urging customers to keep supporting their local fish and chips joint even if the fried meal costs a bit more than it used to. Sarson’s, the vinegar maker, launched a “Fryday” promotion to reimburse 50 customers each Friday for a fish and chips purchase that they promote on social media.

As he doled out tables to a line of waiting diners during the lunchtime rush, Cobley said he was hard-pressed to define what British culinary culture would look like if the chippies disappeared.

“It’s like Sunday lunches, fish and chips, and going down to the pub,” Cobley said. “It’s what we do.”

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/rcna119214