LONDON: The head of independent chips maker Pipers has told the Sunday Times that ‘there is a danger we will have a chips crisis’.
This is thanks to some issues with the UK’s potato crops, which were wrecked by the Beast of the East chill, and are now struggling with the current heatwave, as potatoes can stop growing when the temperature rises about 25 degrees Celsius today’s high in the UK is 29 degrees.
This could cause a UK-based potato shortage, which would in turn affect our chips supplies.
Potato farmer Andrew Francis has added that crops this year have struggled, and that if the heat continues there may be shortages in certain vegetables, ‘including potatoes’.
An important thing to note: Pipers, the chips brand alerting us to this horror, only use potatoes from the UK.
They’re a smaller, independent brand, so if a potato shortage comes, they’ll be heavily affected.
Larger chips brands are unlikely to feel the same pinch. Walkers, for example, sources potatoes from 88 different British farms, and hasn’t expressed any reticence to look abroad in times of crisis.
It’s possible that while potato crops may be damaged in the UK, many crisps manufacturers will simply look elsewhere to continue manufacturing their snacks.
