Farmer dumped with 12 tonnes of spuds after cancelled fish and chip order

Chippies have taken a battering due to the rising cost of energy, cooking oil and fish – and that is having a devastating knock-on affect to supply chain industries like farming

A farmer has been saddled with a whopping 12 tonnes of surplus spuds after a chip shop cancelled an order. Luke Abblitt is now racing against time to give the potatoes to good causes before they rot.

He had prepped 540 bags ready for delivery to a chippy, but he was left with the lot when the order was pulled at short notice, leaving him with stock nearing the end of its shelf life.

Luke, who has been farming since 2011 and rows potatoes, sugar beet and barley, says it’s a worrying sign of the times. He said: “People are feeling the pinch and buying less.

“Rising fuel and energy costs make it harder for fish and chip shops too. It’s a perfect storm in some ways.”

Determined to turn a negative into a positive, Luke has been donating the surplus spuds to food banks and charities.

Luke, from Ramsey, Cambs, has been making free deliveries of the potatoes to charities. He handed out half a ton on one day alone, but he is avoiding giving the spuds to opportunists.

He said: “I’m trying to donate it to the legit charity and people who really need them. I’ve had phone calls from people who want to have them for nothing off me, and then they’re going to try and make some money off it.

“I operate in a 10-mile radius from my farm and have hundreds of customers. I sell 25kg, 12.5kg and 5kg of Sagitta spuds.”

He said large orders have dried up since December, with the cancelled delivery only the second he’s received in five months.

He added: “Agriculture generally, at the minute, it is not a brilliant industry. I’m a tenant farmer.

“It is a tough life to be in at the minute, and it’s just getting tougher.

“And sometimes when I lie in bed at night, I think that I might be the last generation of farmer for my family.”

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