British shops fresh out of fresh food as Brexit bites

GAPS are appearing on supermarket fruit and veg shelves in Britain amid warnings that supplies are being squeezed by Brexit red tape at ports and staff shortages at food producers due to Covid.

Lettuce, cauliflower packs, oranges, strawberries, raspberries and blueberries are listed as ‘out of stock’ in some areas on Tesco’s UK website while prepared carrots, cauliflower and broccoli were among the fruit and veg listed as being unavailable on British online supermarket Ocado.

The problem at food production plants of staff going sick or needing to shield or self-isolate is an issue for the entire British food industry, particularly chicken and red meat processors. Meanwhile, food industry experts and the UK cabinet minister with responsibility for Brexit, Michael Gove, have warned that problems at the ports are likely to escalate from today as the number of trucks going through Dover and the Channel Tunnel rises to normal levels after a New Year lull as the French step up enforcement of post-Brexit paperwork.

Freight expert John Shirley said: ‘The chaos has begun. Organising even the simplest load to Europe has become an almost impossible task due to the mountain of red tape brought in on January 1.’

The UK’s Road Haulage Association said there are already logjams and this situation will escalate when border controls with France are stepped up from today. The group estimates that of the 2,000 a day outbound lorry numbers through Dover and the Channel Tunnel last week, one in five were turned back. It said problems will surge as these numbers increase to the normal 6,000 a day.