Flight ban could leave UK short of fruit and vege's

[depakid]

Air freight problems arising from ash cloud over Europe could leave supermarkets short of perishable products within days.

Britain's supermarkets could soon run short of perishable goods including exotic fruits and Kenyan roses as the ongoing ban on UK air travel brought Britain's largest perishable air freight handling centre to a standstill today.

Norbert Dentressangle, the logistics company that operates this facility at Heathrow Airport, has warned that this weekend will effectively be a write-off. This will mean a three-day shortfall in the supply of certain products, including asparagus, grapes, green onions, lettuce and pre-packed fruit salads. The fear is that, while there are still supplies of these products in the supply chain, they are likely to be exhausted next week.

Parcel delivery firms are also suffering because of the flight ban, which is estimated to be costing the global airline industry more than $200m (£130m) per day.

All the major supermarkets insisted today that their shelves were still well-stocked but gaps could start appearing on shelves if normal service is not resumed soon at UK airports. Some of the pre-packaged fruit that appears on the shelves is prepared, cut and packaged overseas and then flown into the UK, predominantly into Heathrow.

Waitrose has said that the supply of "a handful" of products had been hit, including fresh pineapple chunks from Ghana and baby sweetcorn from Thailand. At Tesco, Thai orchids are likely to be the first item to vanish from stores if the disruption continues.

The UK imports about 90% of its fruit and 60% of its vegetables. While the vast majority come by sea – Fair Trade bananas from the West Indies, for instance, are regularly delivered to Southampton and Portsmouth – some of the more exotic inhabitants of the UK's shops come by air.

Air freight makes up about 25% of all British imports by value, but just 0.5% of all imports by weight. But while a diamond ring will not tarnish if it waits a few extra days before being delivered, some of the goods shipped by air are going to be in a poor state if the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland continues to spew hot ash into the atmosphere. Customers, meanwhile, will begin to run out of their existing supplies. Many of Britain's supermarkets operate their supply chains incredibly tightly, using the principle of "just in time" delivery. When disaster strikes, shortages of some items can start appearing within a few days.

More: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/apr/16/flight-ban-shortages-uk-supermarkets

[ChimpersMcSmirkers]

1. Vegans in the UK are running out of options and make have to consider the unthinkable...

[izquierdista]

2. Always a workaround

Might have to clean the air filters more often, but these old reliables could still make it through.

[PavePusher]

3. This is the nation that endured WWII air raids.

I am quite sure they can make it through a few days, or even weeks, without airlifted luxury item fruits and veg.