by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
Air freight problems arising from ash cloud over Europe could leave supermarkets short of perishable products within days. The ban on flights through UK-controlled airspace could cause shortages in supermarkets with tightly controlled supply chains.
According to sources, Britain's supermarkets could soon run short of perishable goods, including exotic fruits and Kenyan roses, as the ongoing ban on air travel in UK airspace brought the country's largest perishable air freight handling center to a standstill today.
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 have insisted that their shelves were still well-stocked but gaps could start appearing on shelves if normal service is not resumed soon at British 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. Aside from saying all is well presently, some supermarkets have actually had to concede that a small proportion of their supplies has been affected already and if the airspace remains closed for any longer they expect it to get worse.
Britain imports about 90% of its fruit and 60% of its vegetables and while the vast majority of this comes by sea – Fair Trade bananas from the West Indies, for instance, are regularly delivered to Southampton and Portsmouth – some of the more exotic produce in Britain's shops come by air.
Some supermarkets have announces that a small proportion of their supplies has been affected and if the airspace remains closed for any longer they expect it to get worse.
The Meteorological Office has said that it expects that the airspace, though being opened again from – probably – 7am on Saturday, April, 16, 2010, it could get closed again by the beginning of next week, as more ash from the volcano is on its way to the UK.
Those problems that we are experiencing with this ash cloud from the volcano in Iceland shows, once again, that we are too dependent on – one – foreign imports and – two – on air freight and air traffic, and also that the supermarkets have to really think about their supplies and supply chain.
© 2010
