Volcanic ash forces bosses to run firms remotely

By Elaine Watson

- Last updated on GMT

Related tags United kingdom

The volcanic ash cloud crippling European air travel is causing unexpected challenges for the food industry, with buyers stranded in exotic locations, bosses stuck in Easter holiday destinations and engineers worried that spare parts cannot be flown in if something goes wrong.

While most of the headlines have focused on fresh food and cut flowers rotting at air freight terminals, food manufacturers contacted by FoodManufacture.co.uk outside of the fresh produce sector said they were more concerned about people, with key staff stranded overseas and important meetings postponed or cancelled.

John Freestone, chief executive at Crawley-based chilled pasta supplier Pasta Reale, told FoodManufacture.co.uk: “There are no major issues expected unless this goes on for a further two weeks, or if we have a breakdown and need spares, which are usually flown in. Then we would have a major issue as you can’t make things like control boards in the UK. We will then see a minor problem potentially moving to a major situation.”

He added: “We are looking at new machinery with, as usual, tight deadlines, and were due to be in France and Italy and possibly in Switzerland this week. That is not likely to happen. It does not have an immediate impact but it will have the potential to disrupt projects later”.

While the firm had no immediate problems relating to raw materials, some staff were still stranded, he said. “One is making his way back overland, five days late, and two others are stuck on holiday in Dubai and India.”

Technology to the rescue

Steven Joseph, chief executive of own-label confectionery manufacturer Tangerine, said: “There are some unfortunate events where staff have not been able to return from holiday as expected. Also certain business trips have had to be cancelled. I, myself am currently stranded in the Channel Islands and have had to rearrange my diary for the week, but with the aid of technology, we have been able to function normally and reduce our carbon footprint.”

He added: “By policy we are a UK manufacturer and where possible our ingredients are sourced in the UK. Accordingly our supply to our customers has been unaffected.”

Ian Blackburn, chief executive of snacks and confectionery firm Zetar, said: "Certain of our senior executives are still stranded abroad following Easter holidays and we have had to cancel management meetings with our Irish subsidiary. However, probably the biggest issue has been the recent postponement of our procurement team's annual trip to the Far East."

Nick Bowyer, md at poultry and red meat supplier Rectory Foods, said supplies had not been affected because its products were shipped between the Far East and Europe by sea. However, the disruption had “affected some of our crucial meetings that were set to take place last week and thisweek​”, he said. “We were scheduled to fly to Ireland for a key meeting with an Irish foodservice client but this has had to be cancelled at the last minute. We have also had to cancel meetings in Holland with a supplier and a logistics company, due to flight cancellations. We are also booked to attend Food and Hotel Asia in Singapore next week, butwe are cancelling our attendance at the exhibition.”

Fresh produce disruption

While the vast majority of food and drink products are not air-freighted, the travel ban had had a significant impact on the fresh produce sector, said Christopher Snelling, head of global supply chain policy at the Freight Transport Association: “Even if British airspace opened up immediately, it would take a fortnight to clear the backlog of air freight destined for the UK, so we already face an unprecedented logistical challenge​.”

He added: “Producers in Africa are being particularly badly hit; in some areas of the continent 90% of fruit, flowers and vegetable exports to Europe are delivered by air.The longer that UK airspace is closed for business, the greater the damage, not just to businesses here, but also for farmers in the developing countries who rely on exporting their produce to Europe.”

However, the British Retail Consortium downplayed the threat. A spokesman said: “The majority of food sold in the UK is sourced from the UK. And only a very small proportion of food is air-freighted. Retailers are monitoring the situation closely and they all have contingency plans, whether it’s air-freighting goods to Spain and then shipping them to the UK or just stocking substitute products instead.”

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