Fears food bills will 'never' drop to pre-war cost
BBCA farmer said he fears food prices will "never" return to what they were before the Iran conflict.
Mark Forster said he spent £21,000 on the same quantity of kerosene that cost him £11,000 last year, which he needs to keep chicks warm at his two poultry farms near Penrith.
He said while costs were quick to rise amid hostilities, they never come down as quickly when the situation changes or stabilises.
"Everything I buy now has a fuel surcharge on it. I think [prices] will fall but they won't fall to where they were, they never ever do," he said.
He said he expected a steady rise in food prices to reflect increased fuel costs, with fertiliser prices also expected to rise soon as a knock-on effect.
"It's not going away, it's a cascade effect and it'll take time to ripple through," Forster, who also represents Cumbrian poultry farmers with the National Farmers Union, said.
The problem stems from the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz since the war began, where previously 20% of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas passed through the waterway.
This is affecting oil availability and prices, which in turn has a knock-on effect on anything from petrol prices at the pump, to the travel and holiday industry.
A 5p cut in fuel duty, introduced by the previous government following Russia's full scale invasion of Ukraine, is in place until September.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer previously said the planned rise would be kept "under review in light of what is happening in Iran".
Forster said despite having a 10-year plan for his farm, long-term planning was made impossible in the current climate.
He said: "I'm very worried because at the end of the day, to plan ahead to do anything we need a little bit of certainty and we haven't got any at the moment."
