MEATliquor and The Real Greek are among several restaurant businesses that have joined forces to create an unofficial buying group in order to tackle to the rising price of food.
Scott Collins, co-founder at MeatLiquor took matters into his own hands after the price he was paying for chicken increased by 20% over the space of six months, The Sunday Times reported.
“It means we’ve got much more clout,” he said of the group, which has been formed in order to enhance buying power.
The price of chicken in shops has jumped 14.9% on average over the past year, according to the Office for National Statistics, with restaurant operators seeing even high increases from their suppliers – with some fast-food operators complaining of increases of up to 60%.
Neil Piper, interim general manager of KC UK & Ireland told the publication the business was “walking the tightrope of unprecedented levels of inflation” and the need to “remain affordable”.
Meanwhile Nando’s has been forced to up its prices, with the price of ten chicken wings with two sides having risen from £14.95 this time last year to £16.25 today – an increase of 8.7%.
A whole chicken last August was £13.95 and is now £14.95 – an increase of 7.2%.
Also referenced in the article was the boss of a large casual dining chain who said that he was expecting a 30% increase in chicken prices next year, after already experiencing a double-digit rise.
While another restaurant chain said it was about to start buying direct from the producer and cutting out the butcher completely, having secured another storage unit to keep the meat.
Last week Scott Matthews, chief executive, C&G Restaurants and Bars told MCA the business has been on the receiving end of multiple price increases from suppliers this year, with the price of its minced beef going up 59% overnight, earlier this month.
