‘We have no choice’: Why are Adelaide hot chip prices going up?

Hot chips are a takeaway staple but Adelaide shops are being forced to hike prices by up to 40 per cent as they battle shortages and rising costs. See the price list.

Hot chip prices have surged by up to 40 per cent as takeaway shops battle the rising cost of potatoes and oil.

A spud shortage caused by heavy rains and flooding in the peak growing season washed away three months’ worth of supply, driving up prices with local shops now paying more than $1000 a tonne.

Sotos Fish Shop co-owner Craig McKay has increased the price of minimum chips from $5 to $7 – a 40 per cent rise – while other staples such as fish, dim sims and cooking oil have skyrocketed 80 per cent.

SCROLL DOWN TO SEE ADELAIDE’S HOT CHIP PRICES

“We try to keep things as consistent as possible but at the end of the day, when we’re charged more for potatoes because there’s not many around, we have no choice,” Mr McKay said.

The Semaphore business uses fresh spuds which he said had “come with its own challenges” amid potato shortages.

“The quality and the cost has been wavering a little bit over recent times here, it’s certainly hit the whole industry pretty hard,” he said.

“I would have been nice to keep it a little lower but prices have increased across the board and we’ve just had to follow suit.”

Craig McKay from Soto’s Fish and Chips has had to raise chip prices by 40 per cent. Picture: Matt Loxton

At Henley Beach, The Stunned Mullet owner Dino Papadopoulos has also raised chip prices by 40 per cent.

Its smallest size, previously $4.90, is now $5.80 while a super-size has risen from $15.90 to $17.

“We are lucky to be getting chips at the moment, there’s businesses out there not getting chips or struggling to get chips,” Mr Papadopoulos said.

“We have to get whatever our suppliers have got … it’s just a week-to-week thing at this stage.”

On the flip side, Fish Out Of Water owners Kate and Chris Thompson have decided to absorb much of the increase at their Hyde Park fish and chip shop.

“We didn’t want our customers to feel the pinch too much, we still wanted them to have their fish and chippy tea,” Ms Thompson said.

Fish Out Of Water, Hyde Park owners Kate and Chris Thompson. Picture: Keryn Stevens

Further north, Chicken Chef is paying about 40 per cent more for spuds, according to director Eyad El-Achkar.

He said it was a struggle to keep price hikes below 10 per cent with the rising cost of potatoes and oil – with 20 litres of oil now $90 up from $30.

“On average we were paying $800 a tonne last year, now we are close to $1200 a tonne,” Mr El-Achkar said.

The Gilles Plains and Blair Athol businesses have recently lifted a purchase limit to ensure there are enough to go around.

“We know it was a temporary thing and it would come back to normal eventually. We only put our prices up by three per cent on our chips to cover the pinch.”

The Advertiser sampled hot chip prices at 20 Adelaide businesses, finding the average for small chips was $6.01, medium was $9.40 and large, $12.27.