Helen Nugent

Frying high? Younger customers shun the great British chippy

Chippy tea. Just writing those words makes me yearn for fish and chips, lathered in vinegar and dosed with salt. Perhaps some mushy peas on the side and a bottle of ketchup to hand.

While a world without fish suppers would be a cold, cold place (for me, at least), new research shows that people are turning their backs on this most traditional of British meals. According to The NPD Group, younger customers are shunning the local chippy, putting the future of fish and chip shops at risk.

Can this really be true? Who doesn’t like a chip butty? And what’s wrong with pea wet and scraps? But the study shows that millennials – those aged between 18 and 34 – only account for 15 per cent of total visits to chip shops.

NPD says QSRs (quick-service restaurants) serving fast-food recorded 5.9

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