On Monday, 12th of February, the citizens of the United Kingdom were hit with unexpected news as it was stated in a notice that there might be a shortage of Tea in the country.
The notice 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.”
This notice was placed in Sainsbury’s Local in New Islington, Manchester as well as some other supermarkets across the United Kingdom.
This development has led to a frenzy as Brits can be seen hoarding black tea out of the fear of being out of stock when the scarcity finally hits the country. As a result of this tea aisle shelves in most super markets across the United Kingdom have been left empty or almost empty.
It is common knowledge that tea is a crucial part of the British part. It has so much importance attached to it so much to the extent that it has found its way into a lot of british phrases, phrases such as “a nice cup of tea and a sit down”, “A storm in a teacup”, “Not my cup of tea”, “Tea and Sympathy” and so on.
As a matter of fact, Brits consume as much as 100 million cups of tea daily! One can imagine how difficult this news will be for them. British nationals have expressed their concern over this recent development, some are worried about how to cope without drinking tea a day while others describe the situation as horrifying.
The reason for this recent development is a result of the unrest happening on the red sea route. The Red Sea is the most popular trade route for the United Kingdom, however, the route has become quite unsafe recently as a result of Houthi attacks on cargos passing this route. The Houthi attacks are a retaliation for Israel’s attacks on Gaza.
Sadly this attack has caused cargos coming from Asia and Africa into the United Kingdom to have to pass through a different route. The downside to this is that the route is longer which is ultimately slowing down their journey as well as more costly.
However, according to Andrew Opie, director of food and sustainability at the British Retail Consortium (BRC), “There is temporary disruption to some black tea lines, but the impact on consumers will be minimal as retailers are not expecting significant challenges.” therefore there is no need for panicking.
Nevertheless, in the meantime, some British nationals are also thinking of alternatives to black tea should there be a scarcity in black tea.
All Britons in general have been advised to remain calm as the situation is currently under control and it might not have as much negative impact as feared. Other types of tea such as green tea, purple tea and so on remain unaffected.
