An East Lothian restaurant and takeaway have warned they and others are "at risk" as the costs of running their venues spiral.
Carlo Crolla, 47, owner of East Coast Fish and Chips and East Coast Restaurant, has shared serious concerns that business will no longer be viable if prices continue as they are.
Running the two sites in Musselburgh, the family have won multiple awards for their seafood, with customers giving swathes of five-star reviews.
But despite their success, Carlo explained that the price of fish has doubled, along with a spike in energy bills and the cost of cooking oil.
READ MORE - New Edinburgh burger joint Burger Mama opens today in city's west end
Backing a campaign with the National Federation of Fish Friers (NFFF), the group are hoping to save as many venues as possible from going under.
Speaking about the costs, Carlo said: “By teaming up with the National Federation of Fish Friers, we hope to do our bit by encouraging people to support their local fish and chip shop around Scotland during these extremely challenging times.
“Our family has been proudly serving the local community with quality fish and chips for nearly 50 years, but the spiralling costs battering our industry is putting all that at risk.
“We won’t compromise on quality, but these external factors will inevitability mean a rise in costs for us and our customers.”
As they are not protected by the energy price cap, chip shops are now facing huge rises in energy costs. Some members of NFFF have reported electricity bills going up from £400 to £2,000 a month.
Sign up for Edinburgh Live newsletters for more headlines straight to your inbox
Andrew Crook, President of the National Federation of Fish Friers, added: "We are in unprecedented times where we are seeing high levels of inflation and food inflation is even higher.
“Most of the supplies we use in the fish and chip industry have increased drastically in price and we are expecting this to continue for some considerable time. Other products are simply not available, and we have seen suppliers move away from the sector
"Fish and chips shops like East Coast in Musselburgh do feel the effect of these increases more than most cuisines as our margins are much tighter. The price of fish is comparable to steak in supermarkets.
“As a result of this, and our commitment to ensuring a high quality good value, good value product, we may regrettably be forced to review our prices to reflect the rising costs our industry is facing.”
