A CHIPPY owner says he’s had to close his shop and the industry is dying – all because fish and chips don’t look good on Instagram.
Sayem Kabir believes that young people now choose food that looks good as well as tastes good.
And compared with exotic Asian-style dishes, fish and chips is “low down the pecking order”, he says.
Mr Kabir has been forced to close his Bona Fides chippy in Winchester, Hants, after just seven months due to low demand.
And he blamed the unglamorous visual appearance of the once staple part of the British diet for the lack of interest.
He said: "I think the takeaway industry is going through a massive reshuffle. I mean fish and chips, how many people really want it?
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“If you go on JustEat or Deliveroo, you come across all these different types of glamorous food, all different colours. There is just so much choice across the takeaway industry, that I think fish and chips is quite low down the pecking order.
“Most people like to see what they eat, look good on Instagram and social media.
“The people who fund the takeaway industry are the younger people, and if the food looks good with a nice red sauce and a bit of spring onion on top, compared to a plate of spuds and fish that’s just battered.
"People like to eat what looks good now, as well as tastes good.”
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He added that the market has also become saturated with warehouse-based takeaways who have lower costs.
He said: “A lot of these businesses realised that they don’t actually need a shopfront.
"They rented cheap warehouses, doing chicken, burgers and pizza deliveries from a single kitchen.
“Compare their profit margin to people like me on the high street, where I’ve got to pay business rates and my rent is much higher.
“I think a lot of fish and chips are making money just from the profit margin, where potatoes and fish are so cheap.
"I don’t think they’re making money through a high volume of orders like other takeaways are.”
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