Hot food tax turns chicken sales cold

Before VAT was levied on October 1 2012, about 40M rotisserie chickens were sold in the UK each year…

Before VAT was levied on October 1 2012, about 40M rotisserie chickens were sold in the UK each year. But in the 23 weeks since its introduction sales fell by about 18%, with 3.2M fewer chickens being sold over the period.

The 20% tax boosted the average price of a hot large plain chicken from £4.65 to £5.55. The hike resulted in supermarkets selling about 138,000 fewer rotisserie chickens each week or around 7.2M fewer a year.