News

Border Delays And Bureaucracy Causing Food Shortages At British Supermarkets in Spain

By Tony Winterburn • Published: 20 Jan 2021 • 8:58

Border Delays And Bureaucracy Causing Food Shortages At British Supermarkets in Spain. image: Twitter

Border Delays And Bureaucracy Causing Food Shortages At British Supermarkets in Spain.

Supermarkets that sell British products in Andalucía have reported problems with deliveries of fresh stock since 1 January- ‘supposedly’ the first day of Britains freedom from the shackles of the EU. It seems, however, that Brussels doesn’t want to let go just yet, as stricter border controls causing long delays, and a confusing set of rules mean many goods are not getting here on time. It is has been reported that many hauliers are waiting until March until they are sure the journey to Europe is as unhindered as possible.

The Food Co. and Overseas Supermercados, (they supply Tesco and Iceland products on the Costa del Sol), apologised to customers via their Facebook pages about the lack of fresh products. Meat, some dairy products and fruit and veg are especially in short supply, with some stores almost completely out of stock of these items.

Both companies posted that they had “been working around the clock over the last few months to prepare for post-Brexit life”. It is understood that stocks are now building back up at all stores as they are starting to use local suppliers for fruit and vegetables.

The Food Co. Spain issued an apology to customers on their FaceBook page.

The Food Co. have been working around the clock over the last few months to prepare for post-Brexit life, this has come with its own set of challenges, many of which were only disclosed in the days leading up to January 1st (agreeing on a deal on the 24th December has not helped!).

While we did send additional stock leading up to Brexit you may find some of your favourite products going low or becoming unavailable short term.

We have 15 trucks at various ports in France and Spain waiting to clear through customs, however, there are currently long delays. Once they’re cleared stores will be full again within 48 hours.

Short life chilled (anything with less than 10 days life) will be unavailable at the moment until we are confident we can get trucks straight-through port without delay. Hopefully, this will be fixed within days.

In terms of our fresh fruit and vegetable offering, this will be fixed within a matter of days, we will be sourcing all our fruit and vegetables locally going forward which will come with the same quality if not better!

We hope this answers any concerns you may currently have but believe us we are working 24/7 to bring the best of the UK brands back to you!!

If you have any questions, please private message us through Facebook.

Please keep an eye on social media for updates.

We thank you for your understanding in these mad times!!!

Thank you for taking the time to read this news article “Border Delays And Bureaucracy Causing Food Shortages At British Supermarkets in Spain”. For more UK daily news, Spanish daily news and Global news stories, visit the Euro Weekly News home page.