Tom Kerridge says entire UK food industry is on the brink of going bust and ... trends now
Tom Kerridge has warned that almost every UK food business was now on the brink of going bust - including his own Michelin-starred outlet.
The TV chef warned unprecedented inflation had hit every single cost along with customers financial difficulties during a cost of living crisis.
As a result, he stressed that many businesses would regard breaking even as a success.
Speaking on The Rest Is Money podcast, Kerridge said he had closed his own big event company before Christmas and admitted his established Michelin-starred pub, the Hand and Flowers in Marlow, was only just eking out a tiny profit.
The chef said if he wasn't involved in a range of interrelated business around food, which includes books and TV, he'd now be 'absolutely terrified' if he was relying on a restaurant only.
Tom Kerridge opened the Hand and Flowers in Marlow in 2005 and runs it with wife Beth Cullen-Kerridge. Pictured: Kerridge outside his pub
Kerridge at his two-Michelin star Hand & Flowers pub in Marlow, Buckinghamshire. Pictured: Kerridge with a plate of his 'Real Baked Beans' inside the pub
Kerridge (pictured) said many businesses would regard just breaking even to survive the next two years as success
The former Bake Off: The Professionals host also explained that middle and lower price food outlets had been hit by soaring costs, while they have been unable to put up prices for customers struggling for money.
He said: 'If I was solely just about my hospitality business operating, one of them, can it make money? I would be terrified - absolutely.
'I'm in quite a fortunate position in terms of personally I'm OK. I've worked very hard in this industry and I've made money in all different aspects, all from food, I've got my fingers in lots of pies.
'I can move as a business, as an entrepreneur, with books and media projects and other things that are going on.
'But if I was a sole operator of one single restaurant, I would be absolutely terrified. It's very, very scary right now.
'It is the huge amount of rising costs that are coming in behind the scenes even now, and there is no singular point where you can manoeuvre.
'It used to be the cost of veg oil has gone up, so you'd change what you cook with, or the cost of a particular type of meat or produce, you can change that.
'Or cleaning products have gone up. You can try and make the margins.'
He added: 'It's everything. Because it's everybody's business - the guys that produce and supply the cleaning products, the fish guy, the butcher, the veg guy, the farmers. Everything that comes into your business has gone up.
'But we cannot put those prices (up). Everyone's holding off as long as they can, putting prices on to the guests, the customer that comes through the door, because the customer has also got less money,
'Mortgage rates have gone up, so every month you've got more and more people that are having to spend more money. Their disposable income is being eaten away whilst their bills have gone up.'
Asked if he'd squeezed his profits as inflation rocketed, he said: 'Exactly. I think most operators, every operator, will be going 'I think if we can make the next two years and we just break even and survive, we're in a good space'.'
The chef indicated his involvement in a range of interrelated business around food had saved him
Kerridge said his gloomy outlook was based on him being involved with all price levels, where they are all feeling the pinch.
The chef continued: 'We've gone from having a big event company and a two Michelin-star place and pubs that do burgers and steaks, and we've got a lovely, beautiful bistro style London dining room in a five-star hotel.
'We've got fingers across the board of understanding what's happening everywhere, and the big event company we've closed just before Christmas. It's been operating for about five or six years.
'We've no debt but the
