Birds Eye joins battle with Britain’s supermarkets by threatening to hike prices of fish fingers and chicken nuggets by 5% in Brexit row

FISH finger and chicken nugget fans will be hit in the pocket with Birds Eye threatening to hike their prices.

The frozen food company warned prices could be increased as much as 5 per cent, pointing the finger at the falling pound.

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The company has also reportedly warned that packet sizes could decrease - with packs of 12 shrinking to 10 or packs of 20 down to 18.

But supermarket bosses have reportedly accused the company of "profiteering" from the Brexit vote.

A senior supermarket source told  that the move was "opportunistic, unreasonable and unwelcome".

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The source said: "They've been very careful not to use the word 'Brexit' because they saw the kicking Unilever got, but the sector seems to think it's Brexit profiteering."

But he pointed out that fish fingers were "not Marmite", adding: "There's a wealth of quality alternatives."

Wayne Hudson, managing director of Birds Eye in the UK and Ireland said that the falling pound had meant costs had increased.

He said: "Many of our raw materials are priced in dollars and the fall in the value of the pound since the EU Referendum has meant that our costs in sterling have risen.
"Increasing costs is not a decision we take lightly, and the last time it was necessary to raise costs was in 2012. "

He added: "Whilst we are absorbing a significant proportion of the raw material inflation ourselves, the level of increases mean that we may see in the region of a five per cent average cost increase."

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The frozen food company, owned by Nomad Foods, recently created the most expensive fish finger sandwich to celebrate Her Majesty's 90th birthday.

It comes as Walkers crisp prices were hiked by 5p - with the increase again blamed on Brexit.

It is not the first time that Brexit has been "weaponised", with Marmite used as part of Brexit blackmail.

Tesco's pulled Unilever products, including Marmite and Pot noodles from its websites and shelves after a row over the distribution company trying to increase prices.

The favourites were eventually returned to the shelves after Tesco went public with the price debate.

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