Supermac's Pat McDonagh urges people to buy 'long-life food' ahead of winter food shortage

Supermac's founder Pat McDonagh has advised people to buy long-life food now, as he fears there will be a shortage this winter.

Mr McDonagh said the war in Ukraine is having a huge impact on food production, leading to a sharp rise in prices. 

His comments come after McDonald's announced on Wednesday that they would be increasing costs for some items on its Irish menu.

For the first time in 14 years, the price of a cheeseburger has risen. An increase of 20c was added to the cost, rising to €1.70.

"Everybody has to get through it, we have to adapt to the new situation and deal with it - and it will level itself out,” the Supermac's owner told Newstalk’s The Hard Shoulder.

He said despite the challenges, he was optimistic for the future. 

"I would be recommending people to buy a bit of long-life food early… I do honestly think that," he said of the need to stock up. 

"I would be concerned, though, in one sense there could be a little bit of a scarcity of food towards the end of the winter up towards December,” he added. 

Mr McDonagh said he was concerned for Irish households also, "because disposable income is going to get tight and that's going to have its own effect and there's going to be less disposable income". 

He said he has seen a 40pc increase in the cost of beef and chicken that he buys for Supermacs.

'Look the cost of fuel and food is going to continue to grow. The cost of beef to ourselves has gone up 40pc likewise with chicken,” Mr McDonagh said. 

"The price of cooking oil has nearly doubled in the last six months because most of it comes from the sunflower in Ukraine," he said. 

He also noted that while fuel has been high, it had dropped by about 10 cent in recent weeks.