Strikes at UK Ports Push Back Harvest and Sales of Greek Grapes

As strikes at Felixstowe port in the UK continue, London Gateway depot is getting saturated and the delays in delivery of perishable goods is becoming increasingly difficult to predict. Sea freight companies acknowledge the difficulty to guarantee delivery dates, leaving refrigerated trucks as the only reliable option to move goods from Europe to the UK. The UK remains a difficult destination to reach after Brexit, with the blocked ports and increased demand for refrigerated trucks making it even more difficult and expensive to secure supply continuity from Europe to the UK.

Greek grape producers are already having difficulties maintaining demand from their usual clients in West Europe and the UK due to high prices caused by high production costs. Now they need to solve the added problem of how to secure deliveries and not increase offered prices to UK retailer contracts further. While the colder weather still permits, producers are delaying harvesting, pushing back incoming demand, to avoid committing to any new contracts in the hopes of a resolution to the logistics dilemma.