The Northern Ireland Takeaway Association is pleading with Stormont and Westminster for support as the industry faces difficult days ahead.
Michael Henderson, from the association, has been meeting with takeaway owners, and their staff, who have expressed their frustrations. He says they have been alerted to close to 50 closures in the last three weeks - and fears it won't stop there.
Speaking to Belfast Live, he said liaison between the industry and the Assembly needs to be established, before more shutters are brought down for good.
Read more: NI takeaways plea for support as body warns of more closures
"We are meeting with councils around Northern Ireland to bring this crisis to their attention," Michael added.
"We have lost over 40 takeaways in three weeks here and we are coming up to 50. I fear that we are going to lose a quarter of all takeaways by the end of this year. That's if we don't get support from either the Assembly or Westminster.
"Speaking to people in the industry, they are describing a tidal wave of increases. It's from utility bills, to labour costs, to food price increases and more. The VAT is one of the biggest ones, it's tough.
"Our team are hearing these really heartbreaking stories about takeaways closing. It's not just a takeaway closing, it's a family losing something they have put everything into, a community losing their local. These people have been in the business for over 10 years and have never experienced something like this before.
"These people have families, and they need to heat their homes and put food on their tables. We are beyond breaking point now, as an industry.
"A lot of people who work in takeaways are from that local area, the closure just has a ripple effect on the whole community."
The NI Takeaway Association is calling for more support and guidance for the industry. Michael says liaison between the industry and the Assembly needs to be established.
Joe Morgan owns Nemos, based in Finaghy in Belfast, said: "Right across the board, everything price wise has gone up and the worst thing for us is the price of fish.
"It has gone from about £155 for three stone, and now it is now over £308 now. It has hit hard and we are feeling it from all angles. Nothing at all is going down in price, nothing.
"Working in a fish and chip shop isn't a highly paid job and the cost of living has gone through the roof. There is a place in Whiterock that closed down this week, that is heartbreaking for all of us to see.
"There's wee chip shops in local estates who just can't afford to put prices up. We have come out of a recession, into Covid and now into a war. It has been hit, after hit, after hit.
"The VAT is killing us. We need support and we need it now. We're getting nothing. Even if they could drop that VAT threshold back down, we could maybe survive. The rates holiday is about to end, and that is pretty scary."
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