Members of the supermarket industry said February 13 that the U.K. could soon face a shortage of tea due to supply chain disruptions caused by the ongoing crisis in the Red Sea.
According to Reuters, the British Retail Consortium — a trade association for retailers in the U.K. representing over 200 organizations — said that it had noticed a “temporary disruption” to some black tea lines, while an industry source suggested that some flavored lines had been delayed.
“There is temporary disruption to some black tea lines, but the impact on consumers will be minimal as retailers are not expecting significant challenges,” said Andrew Opie, the director of food and sustainability for the British Retail Consortium.
An industry source added that they do not expect the U.K. to suffer a major tea shortage.
The U.K. is the world’s fifth largest tea importer and gets over half of its tea from Kenya and India, meaning the country is heavily reliant on Red Sea trading routes for this product.
Even though two major U.K. supermarkets showed a plentiful supply of tea February 13, companies have warned that the length of disruptions to Red Sea shipping will impact whether or not consumers in the EU are left with empty shelves.
The Red Sea crisis also created shipping backups at several major European ports, leading to delays in cargo delivery. Delivery times in December 2023 and January 2024 increased from 1.5 days on average at the Port of Antwerp to over three days. The Port of Hamburg saw its delivery times increase from an average of two days to almost six in January. Meanwhile, the Port of Rotterdam’s average delivery times increased to almost three days in January while that number exceeded three days at the Port of Algeciras.
