Given these are typically among the most perishable forms of fruit & veg, CGMA expects products such as gem and iceberg lettuce, baby spinach, citrus fruits, raspberries and broccoli to be the first types of fresh produce to run into short supply should the border crisis continue.
Some of these products were shown to be particularly vulnerable to supply chain disruption in January 2017 when bad weather in Spain led to shortages of salad products.
But it’s not just European-grown produce that faces complications making it to the UK.
“A large amount of fresh produce is transited to Europe to get to the UK, for example from Morocco,” says Fresh Produce Consortium CEO Nigel Jenney.
By Henry Sandercock2020-12-21T12:35:00+00:00
Freight queues in Kent could number 6,000 by the end of today, according to transport secretary Grant Shapps
Food industry bodies have urged the government to find a way to get France to unseal its border with the UK or face the possibility of “serious” fresh food supply disruption.
Channel crossings to France for passengers and freight ground to a halt at midnight last night (20 December), after the country announced it would be sealing its border with the UK for 48 hours due to news that a more virulent strain of Covid-19 was spreading in England.