Welwyn Garden City, UK: Tesco chairman John Allan has warned that there could be shortages of some fresh food for a few weeks, or months at the start of next year once the transition period for Britain’s exit from the EU comes to an end.
Speaking on a Bloomberg Television interview Allan said that he expected any disruption to “normalise quickly”.
“We can’t rule out the possibility that if there is dislocation at the ports of entry to the UK there will be some shortages of some items of fresh food, at least for a short time,” Allan said.
“The nation’s supply chain for food will continue but there may be some things we have to learn to live without for a few weeks, possibly a few months,” he said.
Allan warned that the end of the transition period was the “worst possible time for the food industry.” It takes place when grocers’ warehouses are full with festive products and there is “very little spare capacity to build stock.”
He said that Tesco and other supermarket chains were trying to create “maximum possible inventory” to help alleviate any supply chain disruption in January.
