BREXIT: Now it’s the great cuppa calamity
UK boss of Typhoo Tea predicts ‘disastrous’ impact of Leave vote – as price of imports rockets by a scalding 50pc
THE cost of a cuppa is set to rise as a result of the ‘disastrous’ consequences of Brexit, the UK boss of Typhoo Tea has warned.
The announcement by the firm’s chief executive, Somnath Saha, follows other price hikes introduced by firms such as Apple and Marmite in the wake of the Brexit vote.
Mr Saha said the cost of importing an 80kg bag of tea had soared by 50 per cent – from £100 up to £150 since the beginning of the year – with much of the increase being blamed on the recent fall in the value of sterling.
It was ‘an absolute disaster’ for the company, costing it £250,000 a month, said Mr Saha, whose firm employs 300 people in the UK and produces 125million tea bags a week at its factory in Wigan.
He said: ‘We are really suffering. It’s come to a point where it’s not sustainable. We cannot accept this loss any more.’
Mr Saha denied ‘posturing’ to get a better deal for Typhoo from supermarkets, adding: ‘This is a really serious situation for us. Nobody wants to do this, but ultimately some of the costs will go to the shoppers. There is no other option. It’s one of the
‘Some of the costs will go to the shoppers’
favourite drinks of this country. It’s very unfortunate. It’s nobody’s fault – it’s due to economic conditions.’
If the decline in the value of the pound continued at the pace seen since the day of the referendum, his business would lose virtually all its £3 million profit for the year, he said. ‘It’s been so difficult after June. We can’t plan anything. Every day, you don’t know what is going to happen. There is so much volatility.’
Earlier this year, TV chef Nigella Lawson became a Typhoo ‘ambassador,’ appearing in an advert.
Typhoo’s warning of an impending price rise came as pressure grew on Theresa May to disclose details of any secret assurances given to Japanese car giant Nissan.
Labour MP Chuka Umunna wrote to the Prime Minister yesterday, demanding to know if she had promised to pay the manufacturer to go ahead with plans to expand production at its factory in Sunderland – and whether similar offers had been made to other foreign investors.
Mr Umunna, a member of the antiBrexit Open Britain group, asked for ‘details of commitments given by the Government to Nissan’. He wanted to know if its ‘assurance and understanding’ to the company that Britain remained a safe country in which to invest included using ‘public money to compensate Nissan’ – or a secret pledge that the UK would stay in the single market.
The PM must disclose ‘what (if any) financial support was offered; whether any limit was placed on it; and whether the same assurances would be extended to other car makers and other sectors,’ he argued.