Cold store industry warns freezer space will run out in two weeks

BRITAIN will run out of industrial freezer space for food within two weeks, industry chiefs have warned.

The use of refrigerated warehouses and lorries for storing and moving goods is almost at tipping point.

Shane Brennan, chief executive of the Cold Chain Federation (CCF), said that although customers such as schools, airlines and caterers are no longer active, existing orders of “frozen and chilled food and drinks are still coming into storage at a high rate,” adding: “We predict [warehouses] will be full across the UK, with no new space available, in about two weeks.”

The CCF has 150 members running more than 30,000 temperaturecontrolled vans and lorries.

Another concern is the impact of

Covid-19 on post-brexit arrangements as the transition period ends on Dec 31.

Mr Brennan said: “How can the Government possibly have the new customs checks infrastructure that is needed in place? There wasn’t enough time before Covid-19, and there certainly isn’t now. The fact the Government doesn’t seem willing to admit this is very worrying. The risk is chaos and confusion that food supply chain businesses, which will still be reeling from the damage wrought by the Covid-19 recession, will be expected to resolve.”

The CCF added that few businesses across the sector have taken emergency loans from the Government to avoid borrowing.

“They are keeping this option as a last resort,” it said. “Market uncertainty means they may not be able to pay loans back later in the year.”