Supermarkets post warnings over national tea shortage

Tea drinkers beware!

In news that could spark panic amongst avid tea drinkers, Sainsbury's has cautioned shoppers in some stores that shelves could soon run dry owing to "nationwide" problems which could impact the availability of Britain's favourite brew.

According to recent research, the average Brit knocks back 2.7 cups of tea per day, while 44 per cent of those who enjoy a good cuppa are smashing over four a day.

What's more, as many as 41 per cent claim they could not function to some degree without the hot beverage, which is cause for concern if the latest warnings threaten to escalate.

Luckily, at the moment the problems appear to be only temporary and the impact on consumers is expected to be minimal.

But with conflict in the Middle East showing no signs of settling down, the threat to supply chains will have a few people rattled.

A sign spotted in one Sainsbury’s store read: “We are experiencing supply issues affecting the nationwide supply of black tea. We apologise for any inconvenience and hope to be back in full supply soon.”

The four biggest tea-producing countries in the World are China, India, Sri Lanka and Kenya. Together they represent 75 per cent of world production.

Freight shipments from these regions have faced major disruption over the past two months due to attacks in the Red Sea.

The key trade route heads towards the Suez Canal, which handles about 12 per cent of global trade and is accessed by vessels travelling from Asia via the 30km wide Bab-el-Mandeb strait.

To redirect shipments around the Cape of Good Hope at the foot of Africa adds roughly 10 to 14 days onto shipment times, as well as increased costs for shipping firms.

Sparsh Agarwal, owner of several tea gardens in Darjeeling in India and founder of Dorje Teas, told the i newspaper in December, that tea shipments were being stalled due to the disruption.

“We sent shipments to the US and Europe two weeks ago, but they are still in Bombay port and have not been picked up yet,” he told the newspaper at the time.

Here's to hoping that the problem doesn't affect too many more suppliers!